For one game, at least, Arizona Wildcats and Caleb Love found rhythm they were expected to have

The rhythm was visible immediately Wednesday at McKale Center.

After UA center Tobe Awaka batted the jump ball to Jaden Bradley, Arizona’s point guard dribbled and passed to Caleb Love, who passed back to Bradley, who passed to Trey Townsend, who passed to Love ... who then threw in a 22-footer through the middle of the net without hesitation.

Four passes in 17 seconds. One open look. Three points.

Isn’t that how Arizona basketball was supposed to look this season?

Isn’t that how Caleb Love was supposed to look this season?

“Obviously, if you see the first one go through, you’re feeling good with yourself,” said Love, the preseason all-American who totaled 23 points to lead the Wildcats to a 96-64 win over Samford on Wednesday. “You want to take the best shots possible. I give my credit to my teammates for creating for me, and that’s just good basketball. When we’re moving the ball, I feel like we’re at our best.”

Love went on to hit 7 of 14 shots (3 of 9) from 3-point range, while UA shot 58.2% and minimized its turnovers most of the game against Samford’s full-court pressure defense.

However, there’s only limited evidence that making his first shot sustains Love’s confidence throughout a game. This season, he has struggled from 3-point range both in games when he makes his first field goal (29.2% from 3) and when he misses his first field goal (28.3% from 3), though last season there was some correlation.

Love missed his first shot in a 29-point game against Purdue last season, but made his first shots (both 3s) in a 28-point effort at Washington State and when breaking the Matthew Knight Arena scoring record with 36 points at Oregon last season.

On the other side of the equation, Love missed his first shot in a nine-point game against Southern, as well as in a 3-for-12 3-point game against Long Beach State and in a 13-point effort in the Sweet 16 against Clemson, when Love went 0 for 9 from 3-point range.

“There’s a lot of people who have actually studied that kind of stuff, for guys who hit the first shot,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “Most studies say is there’s no correlation between making your first shot and playing good.

“So I don’t put too much stock in it. But I’ll tell you what: When it goes in, I feel a little bit better.”

Lloyd had reason to Wednesday, and not just because of Love.

Complaining how hard it was to put together three consecutive passes against UCLA on Dec. 14, when the Wildcats had 22 turnovers that led to 27 Bruin points in UCLA’s 57-54 win, Arizona’s offense flowed early Wednesday in a way that it hasn’t much of the season so far.

UA took a 13-9 lead into the first media timeout, having made 5 of 9 shots and setting up each make with an assist while they did not turn the ball over once during that span. They finished the first half shooting 61.3% with just four turnovers against a press that morphed into various zones and man-to-man schemes.

“A little bit of difference between the two teams, but they’re both very aggressive,” UA forward Townsend said of UCLA and Samford. “It just came down to being fundamentally sound, (which) we worked on a lot this week, and just being tough with the ball.”

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Individually, Love was at the center of that first-half productivity. Before halftime, he scored 18 points, hitting 2 of 4 3s and getting to the line eight times to hit 6 of 8 free throws. Over UA’s first nine games this season, Love had taken just 12 total free throws.

Last season, Love averaged 4.0 free throw attempts per game.

“We’ve noticed his free-throw rate is little bit down from last year,” Lloyd said after Wednesday’s game.

“I don’t think there’s anything tactically, like `we don’t want you getting to the free throw line.’ We want him getting to the free throw line, and he did a good job of it today.

“I think he’s just got to find a good mix of hunting catch-and-shoot shots, drives and playing in transition. Obviously, he looked really good today, and I’m happy for him.”

At the same time, Lloyd cautioned that it was only one game, for Love and the Wildcats. After all, Love had a similarly productive game against Davidson in the Battle 4 Atlantis first round, scoring 20 points while hitting 3 of 7 3-pointers – and then couldn’t help enough while UA lost three of its next four games.

Love hit a combined 7 for 21 from 3-point range in UA’s Atlantis losses to Oklahoma and West Virginia but made just 1 of 7 3s against UCLA. He also took only two free throws over those three games.

But while Love has been inconsistent, Lloyd’s support of him has not been.

“Caleb’s a good player and I’m going to hang with him. That’s my job,” Lloyd said. “I’m not a fair weather guy. I love my players and listen, I hold them accountable. We have real talks.

“But this is college basketball, and I don’t care if there’s NlL involved or what, my job is to help a young man through tough times and through struggles. I’ll wear it when it doesn’t go good, and when it does go good, I won’t take any credit for it.”

Lloyd’s message may have sunk in. Entering Wednesday’s game shooting just 27.9% from 3-point range, Love acknowledged the mental game has been a factor – but that those around him have mitigated it to a degree.

“Obviously, when you’re not shooting the ball well or you’re not making shots that you usually make in practice or workouts, you get in your head a little bit,” Love said. “You’ve just got to double down on your workouts and double down on your faith and still believe that you can make those shots.

“My team has got confidence in me, my coach has got confidence in me. So it shouldn’t be a question about my confidence.”