Cat fans have been wondering why Stevenson was ordered to goaltend the second free throw at the end of the game. A poster at The Cats Pause came up with an explanation that makes perfect sense, and I am slapping myself in the, "I could have had a V8!" kind of way.
UK had no timeouts. If the shooter had missed the second free throw, the clock would have started and UK would not have been able to get the last-second three pointer to (in that case) win the game.
So Gillispie ordered Stevenson to goaltend and draw a T. That counted the free throw, putting Georgia up three. The gamble is that Georgia misses both technical fouls, and Kentucky gets the ball on the baseline with the full 1.2 seconds remaining for a last-second 3-point bomb to tie and force a second overtime.
The gamble didn't work, but you have to admit, it was really a good idea. Given our position at the time, it isn't as though we had a lot of options, but allowing a rebound on the second FT attempt would likely have ended the game without a shot attempt from anywhere. As it was, Bradley nearly banked in a 50-foot prayer that would have been for the tie if Humphrey had missed both technical free throws.
Smart coaching. I was just too dumb to see it.