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Sheiku Kabba hit one free throw with less than a second left on Tuesday to lift Providence to a 57-56 victory over Richmond.
The Spiders (5-5) had tied the game at 56 on a layup by Tony Dobbins with 9.4 seconds remaining.
Kabba launched
a desperation shot and was fouled by Gaston Moliva. After missing the first
shot, Kabba hit the second to secure the win for the Friars (6-1).
Providence never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as 11. In the
second half the Spiders rallied, finally taking a lead at 42-41 on Moliva's
layup with 11:59 remaining.
The Friars then rallied, moving to as much a six-point lead before the Spiders came back to tie the game at 56.
Ryan Gomes scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Rob Sanders added 13 points for the Friars, who led at the half 37-24.
Dobbins paced the Spiders with a season-high 17 points. Moliva had Mike Skrocki each had 10.
Pitino is 2-1 against Kentucky, a team he coached for eight seasons and guided to the 1996 national title. After the game, Pitino and current Kentucky coach Tubby Smith -- one of Pitino's former assistants -- hugged at midcourt.
``This is just a great feeling,'' Louisville's Luke Whitehead said. ``Coach Pitino already told us how much this game means to him. He said it meant a lot to us, him and the city and it just makes us so happy.''
The Cardinals are 20-1 in December under Pitino the last three seasons, with the only loss coming to Kentucky.
Larry O'Bannon and Whitehead each added 11 points and leading scorer Francisco Garcia had all of his 10 points in the second half for Louisville, which went 15-of-16 from the free throw line.
Louisville, which trailed by five points at halftime, shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half. Kentucky shot 33.3 percent after halftime and 33.9 percent for the game, after making nine of its first 18 shots.