Arizona’s Caleb Love wins Big 12 Player of the Week

It’s only fitting that Arizona moves into first place and finally gets one of its players recognized by the league.

Caleb Love has been named Big 12 Player of the Week after back-to-back 20-point performances in wins over then-No. 3 Iowa State and at rival ASU. It is the first weekly men’s basketball honor for a Wildcat since joining the conference.

Love averaged 24.5 points last week, netting 22 against Iowa State—including a 55-foot buzzer beater to force overtime—and followed that up with 27 points, six rebounds and seven assists in Saturday’s 81-72 win at ASU. The 27 points are the most for a Wildcat in a true road game against ASU since Michael Dickerson had 32 in 1997.

For the season, Love is averaging 16.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He is fifth in the Big 12 in scoring.

The weekly award is the fourth in Love’s career, having won Pac-12 Player of the Week last January and picking up a pair of ACC Freshman of the Week honors while at North Carolina in 2020-21. Love also won Pac-12 Player of the Year last season.

Arizona (15-6, 9-1) is tied for first in the Big 12 as the second half of league play gets underway. The Wildcats also returned to the Associated Press Top 25 after a two-month hiatus on Monday, clocking in at No. 20 ahead of Tuesday’s game at BYU.