Louisville Cardinals players Chane Behanan (bottom) , Peyton Siva (right) and Russ Smith react after an injury suffered by teammate Kevin Ware (not pictured) in the first half during the finals of the Midwest regional of the 2013 NCAA tournament against the Duke Blue Devils at Lucas Oil Stadium. (Photo: Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports) INDIANAPOLIS — In the end, nothing could stop the Louisville Cardinals Sunday. Not Duke. Not the pressure of the moment. Not the sight of one of their own, sprawled on the court with an injury too gruesome for anyone to have to bear, or see. Can anyone stop them now? Hard to imagine, after what Sunday took. The Cardinals are going to the Final Four after blowing past Duke 85-63; marching on with a purpose – and in pain. It hurt anyone who was looking when the clock struck 6:33 in the first half Sunday. First came the injury. Awful, terrible, too horrible to watch on replay ever, ever again. Kevin Ware's lower right leg seeming to explode when he came down on it near the sideline, after leaping at Tyler Thornton's shot. Then came the shock. The Cardinals in various stages of anguish, as they waited for medical personnel to carry their teammate away. Chane Behanan lay on the ground. Gorgui Dieng leaned over, his hands on his knees. Russ Smith gazed off into space. Coach Rick Pitino paced, with his head down. Lucas Oil Stadium, thunderous moments before, had gone so silent, it seemed as if someone had hit the mute button. "Basically the bone popped out of the skin," Pitino would say on CBS right after the game. "It broke in two spots. it will take a year for him to come back. He'll come back better than ever." What a game it had been the first 13½ minutes. Frenzied and raw and nothing held back. And then everything stopped. Injuries happen in sports, but they're not supposed to be like this. Not to a sophomore running out to bother someone else's shot. No body contact, no fall, no sudden move. Just a hard landing of foot against floor, by a player at full competitive fire, as they all were in a first half where not one second was played softly. Not one. And then . . . snap. An NFL, Joe Theismann-type snap. A dreadful, heart-stopping sight that had just dropped into the middle of a cracking good basketball game. And who should tweet out his sympathy moments later, understanding the agony of what had just happened? Joe Theismann. They gathered around Ware, the trainers and doctors and anyone who could help. The minutes went by. The Final Four would have to wait. Everything would have to wait. A stretcher finally came out, and soon Ware was gently loaded and wheeled away, the Midwest regional no longer something he needed to worry about. The audience applauded, including Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Then the officials brought out the basketball, and Smith had to be reminded he was supposed to throw it inbounds. How could they refocus, having witnessed such a sight? Having seen what can happen so suddenly on a basketball court, which is where they had come to play a game for fun – and on Sunday, for something to cherish? But the game was waiting. The Cardinals led 21-20, and there was still a Final Four berth to win. They seemed to be distracted for only a moment or two, but then perhaps the stakes of the day clicked in. They led 35-32 at halftime, and in the second half relentlessly put Duke away for good. "We did it for him," Pitino said. "The bone's six inches out of his leg and all he's yelling, 'Win the game, win the game.' I've not seen that in my life. We're all distraught and all he's saying is win the game while the bone is out of his leg. Pretty special young man." In the end, there was no doubt. No doubt about their toughness or their will or their ability to overcome adversity. No doubt who the best team was in this arena, and very probably this tournament. They will be the lone No. 1 seed heading to Atlanta, which is Ware's hometown, and the noise they heard Sunday was for a special team with still part of the mission left. Who imagines the Louisville Cardinals to be up for sympathetic figures of the month? But this time, they are. Meanwhile, Kevin Ware is in the hospital, with an injury to mar our memories of this March. RELATED: Gruesome leg injury brings teammates to tears REACTION: Sports world reacts to serious injury . Louisville Cardinals guard Kevin Ware is checked on by head coach Rick Pitino after suffering an injury in the first half during the finals of the Midwest regional of the 2013 NCAA tournament against the Duke Blue Devils at Lucas Oil Stadium. (Photo: Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports)
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