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University of Louisville
CHARLOTTE
O' Bannon Leads Louisville Past Charlotte In OT, 90-88
March 02, 2002 | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2002
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville's first regular season under Rick Pitino came down to an appropriately memorable finish.
Freshman Larry O'Bannon hit a driving layup with 1.8 seconds left to lift Louisville to a 90-88 overtime win over Charlotte on Saturday.
O'Bannon scored 12 points, and was one of five double-figure scorers for Louisville (17-11, 8-8 Conference USA), which snapped a four-game losing streak to the 49ers. Reece Gaines led the Cardinals with 20, despite going 4-of-15 from the field.
"We had been a team of Reece Gaines and a bunch of guys named Harry," Pitino said. "Then we started getting better, and now, when you look at what's evolved in the last month, we're a much better basketball team."
Curtis Nash missed a desperation 3-pointer from midcourt as the horn sounded, and O'Bannon's teammates mobbed him at one end of the court as the capacity crowd roared.
The Cardinals improved to 15-2 at Freedom Hall, their most home wins since 1985-86, when they went 17-1.
The home slate included wins over Ohio State, fourth-ranked Cincinnati and Tennessee, in which the Cardinals erased a six-point deficit in the final 30 seconds.
"It's been a hell of a season," said Pitino, hired a year ago to replace retired Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum.
Jobey Thomas scored 27 and Cam Stephens matched a career high with 24 and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the 49ers (17-10, 11-5), who will be the No. 4 seed in next week's Conference USA tournament. Thomas sank five 3-point shots, giving him a league record 102 for the season.
"It's a game we could've won, but they made great plays down the stretch," said Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz.
Louisville led by 14 early, but Charlotte fought back to take a one-point lead in the second half.
The teams traded the lead 11 times and neither team led by more than six in the final 10 minutes of regulation.
Stephens hit an eight-footer in the lane with 37.2 seconds left and Thomas sank two free throws with 22 seconds left to put Charlotte up 80-77.
Luke Whitehead's three-point play with 6.4 seconds left re-tied the game at 80-80.
Demon Brown drove the baseline in the final seconds, but Erik Brown blocked his layup attempt to Stephens, who threw in a short shot as the horn sounded.
As the referees met at midcourt to decide if Stephens got the shot off in time, the 49ers spilled onto the floor in celebration as Louisville coach Rick Pitino danced down the sidelines, waving his arms wildly.
Referees Larry Ware and Scott Thornley examined televised replays of the final shot and determined Stephens released it after time had expired.
"It was bang-bang there at the end," Lutz said. "I wasn't sure if it was good or not. It doesn't matter what I think. I have to trust them."
The 49ers built an 85-82 lead early in overtime, but the Cardinals came back to tie the game at 88-88.
Stephens lost the ball on a baseline drive with 23.1 seconds left, and Pitino called a time out.
Pitino set up a play for Gaines, Louisville's leading scorer, but O'Bannon stood with the ball in the backcourt as the clock dropped under 10 seconds.
"When Reece wasn't open, i yelled at Larry and told him it was going to him," Pitino said.
O'Bannon then drove to the basket and banked in the awkward, game-winning shot.
"Coach said, 'Go, Larry! Take it!' So I just went," said O'Bannon.
"He just threw up a circus shot, and it went in," said Thomas. "In the overtime, we were in position to win the game, we just didn't take the opportunity."
The Cardinals could be as high as the No. 6 seed in next week's conference tournament in Cincinnati.
"A lot of people had their eyes on the NIT for us, but we're going to go try to win the conference tournament and go to the NCAA," said Whitehead, who had five rebounds and four steals. "Early in the season, Coach said it was Reece and 11 other guys. Now, it's me and Ellis and everybody picking it up."
