LOUISVILLE, Ky. - 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.
Showing no nerves, Sparks made all three shots to cap his 25-point performance and complete the Wildcats' impressive comeback for a 60-58 victory over their big rival and former coach Rick Pitino.
"I just wanted to step up there and not think about nothing," Sparks said.
The Wildcats trailed 32-16 at halftime and were down 58-57 after Louisville's Larry O'Bannon hit two free throws with 15.2 seconds left.
Smith called timeout with 4.8 seconds left to set up the decisive play. Sparks inbounded, then received a pass in the corner. He pump-faked, then jumped into airborne Cardinals 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. While the fans and players waited, Sparks chomped on gum and wandered around the court before Smith approached him.
"I was just hanging out really," Sparks said. "I just wanted to step up there and knock them down."
With 0.6 seconds left, Sparks, a 71 percent free-throw shooter, swished the winners.
O'Bannon's desperation heave from halfcourt wasn't close, and the Wildcats snapped a two-game losing streak to Pitino, who coached Kentucky from 1989-97, winning the 1996 NCAA championship. After a stint with the NBA's Boston Celtics, he took over at Louisville in 2001.
The Wildcats overcame a 16-point halftime deficit for the first time since beating LSU in 1994, when Kentucky was coached by Pitino.
"It was an amazing win for us. This should go a long way for the confidence of this team," said Smith, now 2-7 against Pitino, his former boss at Kentucky.
