The Cardinals, who rallied from a 32-23 deficit late in the first half, ripped off an 11-0 run late in the game to improve to just 2-6 against the Wildcats in the decade.
"We played our best game today," Louisville coach Denny Crum said. "I was pleased with the second half. We had 10 assists and only five turnovers. We've got so many young guys, it's taken them a long time to learn how to play together."
After Williams' 3-pointer staked Louisville to a 38-37 lead with 17:43 remaining, the game seesawed until Jeff Sheppard's jumper gave the Wildcats their final lead, 61-59, with 8:15 left. Johnson's three ignited the decisive spurt as the Cardinals built a 70-61 lead on Damion Dantzler's layup with 4:28 to play.
Sheppard led the Wildcats with 18 points, while Allen Edwards added 13. The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for Kentucky (10-2), which had not lost since a 75-62 defeat to Arizona in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational on Nov. 25.
"I want to compliment U of L," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "They had a better game plan today. At times, U of L outworked us. U of L's defense was excellent. They switched from the man-to-man to zone and we didn't adjust well to that today. That is a sign that we were not mentally focused."
The Cardinals, who had lost six of their previous seven games, held off a frantic Kentucky comeback in the final minute. After a foul shot by Nate Johnson gave the Cardinals a 78-72 lead with 1:18 left, Kentucky pulled within four on Sheppard's layup with 59 seconds to go. Louisville threw the ball away on the inbounds pass and Kentucky took advantage, slicing the deficit to 78-76 on Wayne Turner's driving layup with 51 seconds left.
Louisville's Cameron Murray, who scored 15 points, missed a jumper, but Nate Johnson was fouled as he grabbed the offensive rebound. He hit the second of two free throws to make it 79-76 with 15 seconds remaining. Kentucky set up for a game-tying three-pointer, but was slow getting off the shot and Scott Padgett threw up an air ball with one second remaining.
"We really needed a win," said Crum, whose six losses this season have come against teams that either are or were ranked in the top 25. "With the schedule we are playing, it doesn't surprise me that we weren't winning."
Louisville 79, (4) KENTUCKY 76
LOUISVILLE (79)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Maybin 22 3-5 0-1 0-1 2 2 8
Murray 33 4-9 5-6 1-3 6 4 15
N Johnson 21 1-3 2-4 3-3 0 2 4
Dantzler 27 3-8 0-2 1-6 2 3 6
Sanders 30 4-9 0-1 0-10 1 1 10
E Johnson 22 8-10 1-1 0-1 2 5 20
Williams 26 5-9 3-6 1-6 0 2 16
Best 9 0-1 0-0 0-1 2 0 0
Jackson 9 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 2 0
J Johnson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 28-55 11-21 7-33 16 21 79
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.509, FT-.524. 3-Point Goals:
12-22, .545 (Maybin 2-4, Murray 2-4, Sanders 2-4,
E Johnson 3-3, Williams 3-7). Team rebounds: 4.
Blocked shots: 2 (Sanders, Dantzler). Turnovers:
19 (Murray 4, E Johnson 3, Sanders 3, Dantzler 2,
Williams 2, Best, J Johnson, Maybin, N Johnson).
Steals: 4 (Maybin 2, Dantzler, Jackson).
KENTUCKY (76)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Edwards 34 4-10 4-4 1-4 1 2 13
Padgett 25 3-13 1-2 3-6 4 4 7
Magloire 16 1-6 4-6 6-8 0 2 6
Turner 15 4-6 3-6 0-2 2 3 12
Sheppard 33 7-14 1-5 3-6 2 4 18
Mohammed 15 5-6 2-2 2-9 2 2 12
Evans 19 1-5 0-0 4-6 1 3 2
Mills 7 1-4 0-0 1-1 0 2 2
Smith 24 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 2 2
Anthony 10 0-1 2-2 1-1 0 0 2
Bradley 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 27-72 17-27 21-43 14 25 76
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.375, FT-.630. 3-Point Goals:
5-23, .217 (Edwards 1-4, Padgett 0-5, Turner 1-1,
Sheppard 3-5, Evans 0-2, Mills 0-2, Smith 0-4).
Team rebounds: None. Blocked shots: 5 (Mohammed
3, Padgett 2). Turnovers: 14 (Evans 3, Sheppard
3, Magloire 2, Turner 2, Mohammed, Padgett,
Smith). Steals: 12 (Edwards 4, Padgett 3, Smith
2, Evans, Magloire, Sheppard).
__________________________________
Louisville 31 48 - 79
Kentucky 35 41 - 76
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 24,303. Officials: Tom
Eades, Don Rutledge, Tom O'Neill.
