Final Four 2013: Louisville Blows By Duke in Emotional Win to Advance
By Josh Sanchez
It took a spirited and inspirational performance, but the No. 1 overall seed Louisville Cardinals were able to storm by the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite 8 to advance to the Final Four. Louisville was in a tight contest early, but after an emotional moment the team was able to turn up their effort and leave Duke wondering what happened.
In the first half of the game, Louisville suffered a big loss when Kevin Ware suffered one of the most gruesome leg injuries you will ever see.
If you want to see a GIF of the injury, you can click here. If you are really brave, watch the video here. But as a very STRONG WARNING, the injury is gruesome and not for those with a weak stomach. There is a reason we refuse to post the GIF directly on the site, and that is so those who watch it make a conscious decision that they are about to witness a terrifying injury.
[RELATED: Check out the updated 2013 NCAA Tournament bracket here]
Here was his teammates reaction:
After the injury, Louisville never looked back.
Louisville went on to defeat the Blue Devils by a score of 85-63. Ware’s injury sparked the team and gave them all of the motivation they needed to move forward.
With Louisville advancing, it is hard to call them anything but America’s favorite team after that injury.
In a chilling tribute, the Cardinals honored their injured teammate by putting his jersey on while they were sitting on the sideline. Here is an image of the great moment via GIF.mocksession.com:
The Cardinals will face Wichita State in the Final Four with a chance to move on to the tournament championship.
Be sure to stay tuned to FanSided.com throughout the entire tournament as we keep you up to date with the latest results.