Kentucky 60, Louisville 58 Final
Louisville led 58-57 when Sparks drove to the basket. Cut off on the baseline and in trouble, the junior quickly called timeout with 4.8 seconds left. Even then, Sparks' brain was in high gear; he knew that a baseline out-of-bounds situation usually yielded a good scoring opportunity.
Time left -- 4.8 seconds. It would last an eternity for Pitino and the red majority of the 20,088 fans in Freedom Hall.
Smith drew up a new play in the huddle. He sent 7-foot-3 Shagari Alleyne down the lane as a decoy and then had wingman Kelenna Azubuike fan to the sideline for the pass.
At that point, Louisville's defense broke down. Larry O'Bannon stayed with Azubuike, but Francisco Garcia -- who performed well below All-American level -- left the inbounds man to double Azubuike on the sideline. The inbounds man was Sparks.
Azubuike took two dribbles away from the double-team -- but also away from the basket. For an instant it looked like he would have to fling up a no-hope shot, but Azubuike jumped and dumped a pass back to wide-open Sparks in the corner.
Sparks set his feet behind the 3-point line and saw Ellis Myles rushing to close out. In a remarkable display of last-second cool, Sparks pump-faked, sending Myles flying toward him. Then Sparks jumped -- not straight up but a foot to his right, initiating contact with Myles and selling it to the officials by crashing to the floor.
Foul. Three shots. Freedom Hall went crazy.
But Sparks still had to make the free throws.
While the officials huddled around a monitor to determine how much time should be put on the clock, Sparks paced around the foul line. His teammates didn't come near him.
"It was kind of like when a pitcher has a no-hitter going," Sparks said. "Nobody wants to be around him."
Smith called him over. Sparks didn't want to go. Finally, he did.
"Where you going for Christmas?" Smith asked, trying to break the ice.
"Going home," Sparks responded and then went back to the foul line.
"I was just ready to knock 'em down and get out of here," said Sparks, an 85 percent foul shooter.
"I was confident," said Michelle Sparks. "I haven't seen Patrick miss many free throws, and I've seen him shoot a lot."
Swish. Swish. Swish. Ballgame.
Time left -- 4.8 seconds. It would last an eternity for Pitino and the red majority of the 20,088 fans in Freedom Hall.
Smith drew up a new play in the huddle. He sent 7-foot-3 Shagari Alleyne down the lane as a decoy and then had wingman Kelenna Azubuike fan to the sideline for the pass.
At that point, Louisville's defense broke down. Larry O'Bannon stayed with Azubuike, but Francisco Garcia -- who performed well below All-American level -- left the inbounds man to double Azubuike on the sideline. The inbounds man was Sparks.
Azubuike took two dribbles away from the double-team -- but also away from the basket. For an instant it looked like he would have to fling up a no-hope shot, but Azubuike jumped and dumped a pass back to wide-open Sparks in the corner.
Sparks set his feet behind the 3-point line and saw Ellis Myles rushing to close out. In a remarkable display of last-second cool, Sparks pump-faked, sending Myles flying toward him. Then Sparks jumped -- not straight up but a foot to his right, initiating contact with Myles and selling it to the officials by crashing to the floor.
Foul. Three shots. Freedom Hall went crazy.
But Sparks still had to make the free throws.
While the officials huddled around a monitor to determine how much time should be put on the clock, Sparks paced around the foul line. His teammates didn't come near him.
"It was kind of like when a pitcher has a no-hitter going," Sparks said. "Nobody wants to be around him."
Smith called him over. Sparks didn't want to go. Finally, he did.
"Where you going for Christmas?" Smith asked, trying to break the ice.
"Going home," Sparks responded and then went back to the foul line.
"I was just ready to knock 'em down and get out of here," said Sparks, an 85 percent foul shooter.
"I was confident," said Michelle Sparks. "I haven't seen Patrick miss many free throws, and I've seen him shoot a lot."
Swish. Swish. Swish. Ballgame.