Kentucky Rallies at Louisville

The officials were checking TV replays to see whether Kentucky’s Patrick Sparks should get three free throws in the final second against Louisville.

Hoping to keep his player calm, Coach Tubby Smith went over, put his arm around Sparks and struck up a conversation.

“I asked him what he’s getting for Christmas, to kind of break the ice,” Smith said.

Sparks made all three shots from the line to cap his 25-point performance and complete the Wildcats’ big comeback for a 60-58 victory over their rival and former coach Rick Pitino.

“I just wanted to step up there and not think about nothing,” Sparks said.

The Wildcats (7-1) trailed 32-16 at halftime and were down 58-57 after Larry O’Bannon hit two free throws for Louisville with 15.2 seconds to go.

Smith called timeout with 4.8 seconds left to set up the decisive play. Sparks inbounded the ball, then received a pass in the corner. He pump-faked, then jumped into airborne Louisville forward Ellis Myles to draw a whistle from referee J.B. Caldwell.

“I made a stupid play,” said Myles, who had eight points and 10 rebounds.

The buzzer sounded an instant later, and Caldwell and referee Gerald Boudreaux checked to see if Caldwell made the call before time expired.

With 0.6 of a second on the clock, Sparks, a 71% free-throw shooter, swished the winning shots.

“I try to bring a lot of toughness to the team. That’s what leaders do,” said Sparks, who also made five three-pointers.

O’Bannon’s desperation heave from half-court wasn’t close, and the Wildcats ended a two-game losing streak to Pitino, who coached Kentucky from 1989 to ‘97, winning the 1996 NCAA championship. After a stint with the NBA’s Boston Celtics, he took over at Louisville in 2001.

O’Bannon scored 16 for Louisville (6-2). The Cardinals’ defense dominated until Sparks carried the Wildcats back in the final five minutes.

The Western Kentucky transfer made his fifth three-pointer with 4:45 left and converted a three-point play with 2:55 remaining to shrink a 10-point Cardinal lead to four. Walk-on Ravi Moss drew Kentucky to within one with a three-pointer from the corner with 2:07 to play.

Two free throws by Kelenna Azubuike gave Kentucky a 55-54 lead, its first since the score was 5-4.