Whole lotta Love

Caleb Love was at his best for Arizona in an exhibition. Can he keep it up all season? Plus, Indiana's Mgbako arrested, VCU loses a starter, Kentucky lands a PG and we spill some "secrets."

Author

Mike Miller
October 23, 2023

With all these exhibitions and '“secret” scrimmages, we’re in the middle of overreaction season. The actual season can’t get here fast enough. Just two weeks!

Let's dive into the news.

1. What’s not to Love about this debut?

Let’s cut to the chase: If this is a sign of what’s to come for Caleb Love at Arizona, then the ‘Cats are headed for yet another monster season.

A buzzer-beater before halftime of an exhibition isn’t exactly a firm takeaway of anything. But Arizona’s 110-70 win over Lewis-Clark St. on Friday was just about everything you’d expect from a Tommy Lloyd team. Plenty of offense (60% from the field on 60 field-goal attempts), lots of ball movement (assists on half of their 42 made shots), and they pushed the pace whenever possible.

And Love led the way.

The North Carolina transfer was persona non grata in Chapel Hill last season, going from NCAA tourney hero to season scapegoat. He found a new home in Tucson (the admissions team in Ann Arbor is gonna be hearing about this for a while) and played well during Arizona’s overseas tour this summer. Friday, he was peak Love, hitting 9-of-12 shots, dishing 7 assists (!) and no turnovers.

Again, it’s an exhibition, and one that was tied 31-31 before a 17-2 run to close the first half. Still, this is the Caleb Love many thought we could see last season. His all-around play is what excites Lloyd the most, as he told Jeff Goodman for The Almanac:

Caleb Love is always an X-factor because of his incredibly high ceiling and low floor. This is a guy who was critical in North Carolina’s run to the title game two years ago. He went for 30 points and made 6-of-13 shots from 3 in a Sweet 16 win over UCLA, and had 28 points (11-for-20) in the national semifinal victory against Duke.

But he was also a combined 11-for-41 from the field and 3-for-18 from 3 in the Elite Eight win over Saint Peter’s and the loss to Kansas in the title game.

When Love is good, he’s exceptional. But he needs to be more consistent with his shot selection, decision making and effort on the defensive end. He has shot just 36% from the field in his three-year career and 32% from 3. He made just 30% of his shots from deep last season.

“We need him to be a really good all-around player,” Lloyd said. “He’s done it on the biggest stage. Everyone points to his consistency and efficiency, and that’s valid. He just needs to make the right plays.”

To be clear, Love will determine Arizona’s ceiling this season. But the Wildcats’ floor is plenty high, especially if San Diego State transfer Keshad Johnson is going to step right into Azuolas Tubelis’ role this easily. He made all eight shots, ran the floor like a guard — check this finish off a break — and had five assists of his own.

All this was without All-League big Oumar Ballo and super sixth man Pelle Larsson (both out due to injuries), meaning Arizona has more options to roll out once the season begins.

The Wildcats will be a scary good team once again, and may just have the nation’s most explosive offense. The question will be if once March hits, will all the pieces still fit?

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2. Indiana freshman Mgbako arrested

Here’s one of life’s tenets: Good decisions rarely happen in the Taco Bell drive-thru after 1 am.

Indiana freshman Mackenzie Mgbako was arrested early Sunday morning on charges of criminal trespass and resisting law enforcement. He posted bond and was released later that morning. Both charges are misdemeanors.

He was at a Taco Bell at 2:15 am, reportedly “cursing at and being rude to employees.” He repeatedly refused to leave the property. When officers approached his vehicle to tell him he was under arrest, Mgbako reportedly refused to get to out, resulting in police using a baton to break the passenger side window to unlock the doors. He was then removed from the car and arrested.

There’s a statement from Bloomington police here that provides a full rundown of the incident.

It’s unclear if the 5-star forward — a projected starter — will miss any time as a result. Generally, a 1- or 2-game suspension results from an incident like this.

“IU Athletics is aware of the situation,” an athletic department spokesperson said. “We will continue to gather facts, cooperate with and monitor the legal process, and take further action as the evolving situation warrants.”

3. VCU without Sean Bairstow for 6-8 weeks

VCU’s projected to be one of the team that pushes Dayton for the Atlantic 10 title this season, but the Rams will have to adjust to life without a starter for the first month of the season (and maybe more).

Graduate transfer Sean Bairstow suffered a non-contact injury during Wednesday’s practice, sustaining a fifth metatarsal Jones fracture in his right foot. He had surgery on Friday and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, the school announced.

That timetable would mean he’ll likely miss games against McNeese State (Nov. 6), Samford (Nov. 10), Radford (Nov. 15) and Seattle (Nov. 18), as well as the ESPN Events Invitational where they’ll face Iowa State on Nov. 23, then either Boise State or Virginia Tech, before closing the event on Nov. 26.

With any luck, he’ll be ready for a Dec. 6 home game against Memphis. More likely is he’s ready for a Dec. 16 game against Temple.

The 6-8 wing, a graduate transfer who played four seasons at Utah State, played for coach Ryan Odom the last two seasons in Logan, then transferred to VCU over the summer. He’s expected to be an essential player for the Rams because of his experience, versatility (he can play the point when needed) and shooting ability.

Bairstow averaged 10.3 points and 5.2 rebounds a game last season, and shot 37.5% from beyond the arc. He’s displayed more of the same during their Black & Gold scrimmage last week, scoring 13 points in 24 minutes.

4. Another year, another touted guard commits to Kentucky

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: A 5-star guard committed to Kentucky.

This time, it’s 2024 combo guard Boogie Fland (he chose the Cats over Indiana and St. John’s.) from Archibishoip Stepinac (N.Y.), viewed as one of the more explosive scorers in his class.

Fland doesn’t overwhelm opponents with size (he’s just 6-2, 170 pounds), but he’s highly skilled with the ball, and unafraid to shoot from anywhere on the court. He made just 33% of his 3s on the EYBL circuit, but that’s a reflection of his shot selection as much as anything else.

Fland is a shot-maker, something we’ve seen quite a bit of from guards under coach John Calipari.

Actually, scratch that. We always see it under Calipari.

That list includes such guards as John Wall (2009), Brandon Knight (2010), Marquis Teague (2011), De’Aaron Fox (2016), Immeanuel Quickly (2018), Tyrese Maxey (2019) and DJ Wagner (2023).

Fland’s just the second 2024 recruit for Kentucky, joining Overtime Elite center Somto Cyril, but is in the mix for Top 30 recruits Jayden Quaintance, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond.

In more 2024 recruiting news:

5. A ‘secret’ scrimmage rundown

The official start of the 2023-24 season is two weeks away. But we’re smack-dab in the middle of hype season thanks to the litany of '“secret” scrimmages that happened over the last few days.

This the time when overreactions flow like the salmon of Capistrano, all because of wild results, or impressive individual performances.

So. On that note, here’s a list of results from the weekend. Read into these what you will.

International men of mystery

UCLA’s loaded with new players this season, most of whom have played overseas for years. How does Bruins coach Mick Cronin anticipate them meshing together? He didn’t sound too worried about it when he spoke to Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster last week.

Links as you do a double take at Sunday’s NFL scores.

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