Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

From the men’s basketball gold-medal game at the Beijing Olympics, Sunday at Wukesong Olympic Basketball Gymnasium …

The United States held off a valiant effort by world-champion Spain to take the Olympic gold with a 118-107 victory.

Dwyane Wade led Team USA with 27 points. He made four of seven three-point attempts and also had four steals.

Kobe Bryant had 20 points and six assists. LeBron James added 14 points, six rebounds and three steals. Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony each scored 13, and Paul also handed out five assists. Chris Bosh led the team in rebounds with seven, and also scored eight points.

Former University of Kentucky standout Tayshaun Prince logged 8:25 of playing time. He made all three of his field-goal attempts, finishing with six points and two rebounds.

Rudy Fernandez made five of nine three-point attempts en route to a 22-point game for Spain. Pau Gasol had 21 points and six rebounds. Also scoring in double figures: Juan Carolos Navarro, 18; Carlos Jimenez, 12; Marc Gasol 11; and Felipe Reyes, 10 (plus seven rebounds).

Boy wonder point guard Ricky Rubio, 17, finished with six points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

* The U.S. lead over Spain is 111-104 with 2:02 left.

After Spain pulled to within 91-89 early in the quarter, Team USA scored 12 of the next 15 points to lead 103-92.

The lead was cut to four, 108-104, before Dwyane Wade hit a three-pointer for the seven-point edge.

* A Rudy Fernandez three-pointer has pulled Spain to within 91-89, the U.S. leading with 8:13 to play.

* Trailing 69-61 at halftime, Spain cut Team USA’s lead to four points several times during the third quarter but could get no closer. Heading into the final 10 minutes, the U.S. leads 91-82.

* The U.S. leads Spain 69-61 at halftime of a foul-fest.

Dwyane Wade has 21 points for Team USA and Chris Paul has 10. Former Kentucky Wildcat Tayshaun Prince has six points and two rebounds.

Rudy Fernandez has 13 points for Spain and Pau Gasol has nine.

Spain has three players with three fouls each and three more with two each as the Americans have made 17 of 20 free throws.

Team USA has six players with two fouls apiece. Spain has made 18 of 21 free throws.

Spain led by as many as five points in the first quarter, but the U.S. scored nine points in a row to take a 26-22 lead.

Team USA’s advantage reached 14 points, 58-44, when LeBron James knocked down a three-pointer.

Spain pulled to within six points, 67-61, in the final minute of the half.

* Team USA leads Spain 38-31 after one quarter.

The Spaniards led 22-17 before Team USA ran off nine consecutive points to take the lead.

LeBron James and Kobe Bryant spent most of the quarter on the bench, as each had two fouls within the first 5 1/2 minutes.

Dwyane Wade led the U.S. with 13 first-quarter points. Chris Paul added six and Tayshaun Prince had four.

Pao Gasol had seven points for Spain and Juan Carlos Navarro had six.

From semifinals of the Beijing Olympics men’s basketball tournament Wukesong Olympic Basketball Gymnasium …

The Redeem Team is in the gold-medal game.

Team USA dispatched defending champion Argentina 101-81 Friday night

So it’s USA vs. world-champion Spain for the gold, Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (a.m. EDT).

Carmelo Anthony, 13-for-13 at the free-throw line, led the U.S. with 21 points. LeBron James added 15. Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul each scored 12. Chris Bosh added 11 and Dwight Howard 10.

Tayshaun Prince, the former Kentucky standout, played only 3:52 and grabbed one rebound.

Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets led Argentina with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Carlos Delfino scored 19, Paolo Quinteros 12 and Andres Nocioni 10.

* Team USA leads 78-64 through three quarters. Up nine at the half, the Americans matched their largest first-half lead of 21 points at 76-55. Argentina, with Manu Ginobili sidelined by injury, closed the quarter with a 9-2 run.

Carmelo Anthony had eight third-quarter points for the U.S. Dwight Howard had seven.

* Team USA leads Argentina 49-40 at halftime.

Argentina got only two points from Manu Ginobili, who left the game midway through the first quarter due to a leg injury and has not returned.

The U.S. used an 18-0 run to take a 21-4 lead and built the margin to 21 points a couple of times, the last at 34-13.

The Argentines outscored the U.S. 27-12 to pull to within six points, 46-40. Carmelo Anthony’s three free throws gave the U.S. a 49-46 lead.

Anthony leads U.S. scorers with 13. Kobe Bryant has 12 and Chris Paul has 11.

Luis Scola paces Argentina with 12 points and seven rebounds. Andres Nocioni has eight points.

* Argentina is on an 11-0 run midway through the second quarter, cutting the U.S. lead to 37-29.

The U.S. has led by as many as 21.

* An 18-0 run carried Team USA from a 4-3 deficit to a 21-4 lead over Argentina. Through one quarter, the U.S. leads 30-11.

Kobe Bryant led the 18-point surge by scoring seven. Chris Paul had five. Chris Bosh, Jason Kidd and LeBron James had two points each.

* Team USA leads Argentina 9-4 with 4:47 left in the first quarter. Kobe Bryant has four points.

* Pau Gasol scored 19 points and Rudy Fernandez had 18 as Spain rallied to defeat Lithuania 91-86 Friday night (a.m. in the U.S.).

Spain will face the winner of the U.S.-Argentina game for the gold medal Sunday. Lithuania will play the bronze-medal game for a fifth consecutive Olympics.

Spain trailed by as many as six points and was down 74-73 when it fired the decisive volley, an 8-0 run.

The Spaniards made 35 of 44 free throws. Lithuania was 22-for-26.

Felipe Reyes added 13 points for Spain. Carlos Jiminez had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Simas Jasaitis and Sarunas Jasikevicius had 19 points each for Lithuania. Robertas Javtokas added 15, Ksistof Lavrinovic 13 and Rimantas Kaukenas 11.

From the Beijing Olympics at Wukesong Basketball Gymnasium, quarterfinal play  …

The United States advanced to Friday’s semifinals by whipping Australia 116-85.

The U.S. will meet the winner of the Argentina-Greece contest, which is now in progress.

Kobe Bryant led five Americans who scored in double figures. He hit four of seven three-point attempts en route to 25 points. Lebron James added 16 points, nine rebounds and four steals, while Carmelo Anthony had 15 points.

Deron Williams and Chris Bosh scored 10 each.

Former University of Kentucky standout Tayshaun Prince had nine points, a rebound and a steal in 13:21 of action. He hit two of three three-point attempts, his only two-point try (a dunk) and one of two free throws.

The U.S. shot 57percent from the field and finished with a 57-28 advantage in rebounds.

Patrick Mills paced Australia with 20 points. Glen Saville added 13, Joe Ingles 11 and Brad Newley 10.

* The 14-0 run to start the second half blew the game open and the United States leads 89-61 heading into the fourth quarter.

Kobe Bryant had nine of those 14 points. Carmelo Anthony added a three-pointer and Jason Kidd had two points.

Tayshaun Prince entered the game with 3:27 left, adding a three-pointer and a thunderous dunk.

*A 14-0 run to open the third quarter has pushed Team USA’s lead to 69-43.

* The U.S. has opened a 55-43 halftime lead.

Rebounding has been big — the Americans have a 31-14 advantage. That has helped make up for poor free-throw shooting (10-for-20) and three-point shooting (3-for-13)

LeBron James has seven rebounds and Dwyane Wade has six.

James and Carmelo Anthony have 12 points each to lead the U.S. Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard have eight apiece.

Former University of Kentucky standout Tayshaun Prince entered the game late in the half and made one of two free throws. He also had a rebound and steal.

Patrick Mills and Brad Newley each have eight points for Australia. Chris Anstey has seven points and four rebounds.

The Aussies are 7-for-11 at the free-throw line and 4-for-11 from three-point range.

* Team USA leads Australia 25-24 after one quarter.

The U.S. scored the first five points and led by nine points several times, the last at 15-6.

Australia battled back to tie at 21 but has not led.

The U.S. is 4-of-11 at the free-throw line.

Dwight Howard leads all scoreres with eight.