INDIANAPOLIS - Crying and shaken by the sight of Kevin Ware writhing on the court, his right leg splintered, Louisville Coach Rick Pitino and his players had no idea how they were going to pull it together with a half still left to play and a Final Four berth on the line.
Ware told the Cardinals the way.
“I don’t think we could have gathered ourselves - I know I couldn’t have - if Kevin didn’t say over and over again, ‘Just go win the game,’” Pitino said. “I don’t think we could have gone in the locker room with a loss after seeing that. We had to gather ourselves. We couldn’t lose this game for him.
“We just couldn’t.”
With Russ Smith, Peyton Siva and Gorgui Dieng leading the way, the Cardinals finally shook off their grief early in the second half, erupting for a 13-2 run that Duke was powerless to answer. The 85-63 victory clinched a second consecutive trip to the Final Four for the top-seeded Cardinals, who are determined to win it all for Ware, a New York City native who moved to the Atlanta area for high school.
The Cardinals (33-5) will play Wichita State in the national semifinals next Saturday. The ninth-seeded Shockers (30-8) added to their streak of upsets with a 70-66 victory over Ohio State on Saturday night.
As the final seconds ticked down, Ware’s best friend on the team, Chane Behanan, put on the guard’s No. 5 jersey and stood at the end of the bench, screaming. Cardinals fans chanted “Kevin Ware! Kevin Ware!”
“We talked about it every timeout, ‘Get Kevin home,’” Pitino said.
Smith finished with 23 points and earned Most Outstanding Player honors for the Midwest Regional. Siva added 16 while Dieng had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Mason Plumlee had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Duke. But the Blue Devils (30-6) couldn’t overcome a poor start by Seth Curry, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half, or their foul trouble.
“I thought we had a chance there, and then, boom,” Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “That’s what they do to teams. They can boom you.”
With 6:33 left in the first half, Ware, who has played a key role in Louisville’s 14-game winning streak, jumped to try and block Tyler Thornton’s three-point shot. When he landed, Ware’s right leg snapped midway between his ankle and knee, the bone skewing almost at a right angle. Ware dropped to the floor right in front of the Louisville bench. Thornton grimaced, putting his hand to his mouth as he turned around.
Pitino went to help Ware up and then saw the leg, which broke in two places.
“I literally almost threw up,” Pitino said, his voice catching. “Then I just wanted to get a towel to get it over that. But all the players came over and saw it.
“Basically, the bone popped out of the skin. It broke in two spots. Remember the bone is six inches out of his leg, and all he’s yelling is ‘Win the game, win the game.’ I’ve never seen anything like that.”
News of the injury dominated social media. Joe Theismann, whose NFL career ended with a horrific broken leg, said on Twitter, “Watching Duke/Louisville my heart goes out to Kevin Ware.”
Pitino wiped away tears as Ware, whom Smith described as the Cardinals’ “little brother” was wheeled off the court. He underwent surgery at nearby Methodist Hospital, and Pitino said he, his son Richard and the team’s equipment manager planned to visit him later Sunday night and again this morning.
At a glance REGIONAL FINALS
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Louisville 85, Duke 63 Michigan 79, Florida 59
FINAL FOUR
SATURDAY’S GAMES All times Central
Wichita State vs. Louisville, 5:09 p.m.
Syracuse vs. Michigan, 40 minutes after conclusion of first game - Bracket, Page 6C
Sports, Pages 13 on 04/01/2013