After all the buildup, the history, with a matchup of decorated coaches and programs, the most poignant moment of Sunday's Midwest Region final sprang from an injury perhaps unparalleled in its gruesomeness at an N.C.A.A. tournament.
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The scene after Louisville's Kevin Ware sustained an open fracture of his right leg late in the first half was surreal. Four Cardinals woozily held each other up at center court, several appearing on the brink of fainting, others crying and shaking. Coach Rick Pitino dabbed away tears. Players on the bench said a prayer.
While being treated on the floor, before a cart carried him off to a hospital, Ware called his teammates over, but they could not hear him. Pitino had to yell.
"Guys!" Pitino cried. "He wants to say something."
Russ Smith, Peyton Siva, Chane Behanan, Wayne Blackshear and Gorgui Dieng gathered around Ware, who said through tears, "Just win it for me, y'all."
His words soothed the souls of 13 players who turned their sorrow into fuel. Louisville, the region's No. 1 seed, responded by dismantling the second-seeded Blue Devils, 85-63, in a commanding second-half performance at Lucas Oil Stadium to earn a second consecutive trip to the Final Four.
At halftime, Pitino told his team to win for Ware, who grew up in Atlanta, where the Final Four will be held. At the time of Ware's injury, the Cardinals led, 21-20, but it was going to take a monumental resurgence of character not to let the scene they had witnessed derail their play.
They emerged from the locker room with eight minutes before the second half began — unusually early. They were ready to run, run, run again.
"We couldn't lose this game for him," Pitino said. "We just couldn't."
