The controversial ending in last night’s TBT game between La Familia and Eberlein Drive, when Willie Cauley-Stein faked an injury to put Archie Goodwin on the free throw line, may have triggered a memory for any Kentucky fans who followed the 1993-94 college basketball season. The switcharoo did not work for La Familia in TBT, as Archie Goodwin missed the game-winning free throw in Cauley-Stein’s place; however, it did for Rick Pitino’s Wildcats at Vanderbilt in February 1994.

For those who don’t remember or didn’t live it: Jared Prickett went 0-for-4 at the free throw line that February night in Nashville, so Travis Ford, being the heady point guard that he was, told Gimel Martinez to slide in for Prickett after Prickett drew a foul grabbing a defensive rebound under Vanderbilt’s basket. Walking the length of the court for the foul shots on the other end, Prickett and Martinez successfully pulled off the switch despite Vanderbilt’s Dan Hall arguing to the officials that it was Prickett who was fouled, not Martinez, a career 78-percent shooter. Ralph Hacker and Kyle Macy even pointed out the mistake on the UK radio broadcast.

Still, Martinez shot the free throws for Pickett, making one of two to extend Kentucky’s lead to eight with two and a half minutes to go, helping seal the victory for UK. Meanwhile, a chorus of boos rang out in Memorial Gym in an attempt to drown out the “Go-Big-Blues” from the away team’s supporters. In a game write-up found on Big Blue History, Dr. J’s UK Newsletter wrote, “(Travis) Ford fouled out shortly afterwards, and he left the floor to a surprisingly loud number of boos from the fans. I didn’t understand this at the time, but perhaps they realized that Ford had orchestrated the free throw switches.”

Ford also directed Walter McCarty to shoot free throws for Andre Riddick earlier in the game when the officiating crew hadn’t determined if McCarty or Riddick had been fouled. Ford did not deny taking advantage of the confusing situation.

A one-game suspension

Four days after the Vanderbilt game, the three involved players — Ford, Martinez, and Prickett — served a one-game suspension, missing Kentucky’s trip to Knoxville to play Tennessee. Rick Pitino said of the decision, “This type of behavior cannot be tolerated from a Kentucky ballplayer… These three men are outstanding young men who work very, very hard, but they made a mistake.”

Kentucky beat Tennessee with only eight players, overcoming a double-digit deficit to win 77-73 in Knoxville. Between the Vanderbilt and Tennessee trips, the Southeastern Conference reviewed the tape from Nashville and released a statement saying, “It has been stressed to the officiating crew that although it was an inadvertent error, their administration of the free throws was unacceptable.”

If only it had worked out for La Familia last night.

[FINAL: La Familia’s 4th quarter comeback comes up short in 71-70 loss to Eberlein Drive]