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‘I got your back’: UNC basketball’s Caleb Love defends Puff Johnson after Notre Dame foul

rodd baxley, the fayetteville observer
·2 min read
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CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina basketball’s Puff Johnson wasn’t sure what happened on the play that got Notre Dame’s Cormac Ryan ejected from the Tar Heels’ 81-64 win on Saturday.

But Johnson was happy to see teammate Caleb Love come to his defense on the play. After Johnson threw down a two-handed dunk, Ryan appeared to kick Johnson in the face while the two were on the floor. Ryan received a flagrant 2 foul and was removed from the game.

“It was great. We were just talking about that in the locker room. I didn’t even see the play happen,” Johnson said.

“(Love) said, ‘Yeah, I got your back. I’ll always have your back.’ That means a lot, because that just speaks to the type of relationship this whole team has. I didn’t even – I’ll be honest – I didn’t even see it and I didn’t even know (Ryan) did that. … Just knowing that (Love) always has my back, that means a lot.”

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After the play, Love got in Ryan’s face and picked up a technical foul, along with Notre Dame’s Dom Campbell. The players had to be separated by teammates and officials.

“I just told (Ryan), ‘Don’t do that again,’” Love said. “I seen him kick his foot in Puff’s face. … That’s just the type of teammate I am – I’m gonna stand up for all my teammates.”

UNC coach Hubert Davis said he “didn’t see much of it,” but he was pleased to see Love come to Johnson’s aid.

“I don’t like technical fouls, but I love our team standing up for each other,” Davis said. “Caleb standing up for Puff, I support that, I encourage that every day. That’s one of the many things that makes Caleb such a great teammate.”

Love scored 18 points and Johnson a season-high 11 to help the Tar Heels (11-5, 3-2 ACC) improve to 8-0 at home.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball's Caleb Love defends Puff Johnson after Notre Dame foul