Louisville, KY (Betting Express) - Edgar Sosa's three-point shot with two seconds to play gave the 18th-ranked Louisville Cardinals a 74-71 victory over intrastate rival Kentucky on Sunday at Freedom Hall.
Sosa finished with 18 points and Terrance Williams scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds to give the Cardinals (9-3) their second win in the last five meetings with the Wildcats.
Kentucky (11-4), which had a six-game winning streak snapped, was led by Jodie Meeks' 28 points and Patrick Patterson, who scored 22 along with 15 boards. It was Patterson's 15th career double-double.
In the first half Louisville got out to a 13-4 lead with 15:57 to play. Meeks hit two straight three-point shots to draw within 17-16 with 11:52 to play.
Louisville's largest lead in the half was 38-29 at the 2:21 mark. The Cardinals took a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
Kentucky stayed with Louisville early in the second half trailing 42-41 with 18:09 to play. Patterson's jumper gave the Wildcats a 43-42 lead at the 17:16 mark.
Louisville regained the lead with a 12-0 run, as Sosa's three-point play gave the Cardinals a 54-43 advantage with 14:40 remaining.
Meeks nailed a three-point shot at 6:51 to Kentucky within 64-59. The Wildcats' Michael Porter hit a trey with 2:55 to go make the score 66-64 in favor of Louisville.
Louisville hit five free throws to go up 71-64 with :50.7 left. But Meeks made three from the charity line to allow the Wildcats to get within four with 38 seconds remaining.
Patterson stole a Louisville inbounds pass and Meeks converted a layup to make it a two-point game before two free throws by Meeks tied the contest with 23 seconds remaining.
Sosa's three-point shot with less than three seconds left gave the home team the lead, as Porter was off the mark on his attempt at the buzzer.
Game Notes
Kentucky now leads the all-time series 26-14. The win was the first over the Wildcats at Freedom Hall since an 81-63 Louisville victory on December 28, 2002. Louisville has won two of its last four games after starting the season 7-1. The Wildcats outrebounded Louisville 32-22. The Cardinals' Earl Clark had 10 points and Jerry Smith added 11. Louisville had eight blocked shots in the game, the fourth time the Cardinals had eight or more blocks in a game. Louisville is 4-0 when recording eight or more blocks in a contest...Kentucky will host next host Vanderbilt on Saturday in SEC action...Louisville travels Wednesday to Tampa to take on USF.