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Cardinals rebound from Ware's injury to reach Final Four
INDIANAPOLIS -- The No. 1 Louisville Cardinals could have reacted a number of ways to the gruesome injury of reserve guard Kevin Ware. They chose to channel their emotions into a second-half blowout of Duke, clinching a trip to the Final Four with a 85-63 win.
"When Kevin went down, it was devastating for all of us," senior point guard Peyton Siva said. "We just came together and Kevin Ware really was the reason why we pulled this game out. ... (Kevin) told us countless times, 'Just go win this game for me. Just go win this game.'
"I don't know how he did it. I don't know how he got the strength to do it, but he told us to go out there and win."
Ware, a sophomore, was coming off a career game in the regional semifinal on Friday and seemed to be hitting his rhythm as a player on both ends of the court.
With 6:33 left in the first half, Ware jumped out to defend a three-point shot. Ware came down from several feet in the air, landed with all of his 175 pounds onto his right leg, and it snapped in half below his knee.
He lay on the ground attempting to lift his leg and it bent at 90 degrees just above his mid-high sock. Louisville led 21-20.
"It was a gruesome sight; nothing like I've ever experienced before," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "I went over and I was going to help him up, and then all of a sudden I saw what it was. And I literally almost threw up ... It was terrible to watch. I felt awful for the players, felt awful for the fans. But we had to gather ourselves. We couldn't lose this game for him. We just couldn't."
Louisville attempted to inbound the ball but as players started to see Ware on the ground, they collapsed in shock and officials stopped the game.
"I saw Kevin go out there and challenge (the shot)," Cardinals junior Russ Smith said. "When he landed, I heard it.
"I heard it, and then I saw what happened come out and I immediately just -- just fell ... It was hard for me to pull myself together because I didn't ever think in a million years that I would see something like that."
Louisville played lethargically for the remainder of the first half and appeared mentally defeated. The Cardinals entered the break up 35-32.
Pitino channeled to his team the message Ware had stated over and over as he lie reeling.
"Let's not lose," is how Smith reported Pitino's message. "Don't lose this game for Kevin Ware. That was the main summary. That's it, really."
The Cardinals came out for the second half a new team.
Smith finished with 23 points and was named the region's most valuable player.
Siva, Louisville's captain, had 10 of his 16 after the halftime break.
"I think hitting the glass and really attacking them, being aggressive on the offensive end helped us spark the run," Siva said. "Today it really showed what an actual team can do when you really play together. ... It was a great victory for us, because we had one common goal, and that was to get it for Kevin."
The Cardinals limited Duke's leading scorer, senior Seth Curry, to 0 points in the first half and just 12 in the game.
Senior Mason Plumlee led the Blue Devils with 17 points and 12 rebounds in his final collegiate game.
The two teams were tied for the last time at 42-all with 16:18 left, then Louisville put the game away with a 20-4 run over the next eight minutes.
"At halftime (Pitino) told us -- he was actually telling us how to adjust and I was trying to cut him off, like, 'Coach, they're playing like this,'" Siva said. "He's like, 'Can you listen to me? I got this.'... He's just a master at what he does."
Pitino advanced to his fifth Final Four and his third as coach of the Cardinals.
Louisville, the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, now advances to the national semifinal for the second straight year where they will take on No. 9 Wichita State.
The Cardinals play in the first game on Saturday, tipping off from Atlanta at 6:09 p.m.
Ware, coincidentally, grew up in Atlanta.
Siva, donned in Ware's jersey during the press conference rather than a regional championship T-shirt, said that made the victory even more emotional.
"Coach told us that we need to get (Kevin) back home, and I think it would have been a tougher loss for us if we would have went out there and lost," Siva said. "I think that would have hurt him more than the actual injury."