Louisville got a shock to the system from Wichita State Saturday night, but if the Cardinals have learned anything from Kevin Ware’s traumatic injury, it’s that they can handle it.
Trailing by as many as 12 points in the national semifinals to the upstart ninth-seeded Shockers, Louisville just kept coming. Relentless was part of the reputation of the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed and the heavy favorites needed every bit of it for a 72-68 win.
With their backcourt thin without Ware, and ace Russ Smith struggling with his aim, the Cardinals turned to their bench. Walk-on Tim Henderson hit two 3-pointers from the corner to start chipping at the deficit. Luke Hancock took care of the rest.
The sixth man scored 20 of Louisville’s 28 bench points overall, a big reason why they’re playing again Monday. The Cardinals advanced to their first national final since Pervis Ellison led them to the 1986 title.
There they’ll face Michigan, which advanced to its first national championship game since Chris Webber’s infamous timeout call in 1993. The Wolverines didn’t get style points they had in a romp over Florida but held on to beat Syracuse 61-56 with some grit of their own.
Jim Boeheim’s patented zone held Michigan 17 points below its tournament average (78.7) but the Orange couldn’t muster much offense either.
“Our defense was good enough to win tonight,” Boeheim said. “Our offense was not.”
Syracuse won’t have another shot at Louisville until both teams move to the ACC next season, and from the sounds of it after the game Boeheim has every intention of being there.
“Everything in me intends to be back coaching next year,” said Boeheim, who joined Mike Krzyzewski in becoming the second men’s Division I basketball coach to surpass 900 wins this season and finished at 920.
Louisville Coach Rick Pitino won’t have to figure out how to beat Syracuse for a third straight time. He and his Cardinals were having a hard enough time figuring out Wichita State Saturday night.
“I just kept telling the guys…we are going to make our run,” Pitino said. “It is about defense. The tempo is not ours; give them their credit, but the bench won the game for us tonight. Unbelievable display.”
Leading the way was Hancock, who knelt by Ware during last Sunday’s regional final after he broke his leg so severely the bone was protruding from the skin.
While other teammates turned away in tears and queasiness, Hancock prayed at Ware’s side. The same cool demeanor and first-responder prowess served Louisville well on Saturday.
He drove to the basket with Russ Smith-worthy moves of his own to start an 8-1 run midway through the second half. Then he hit a 3-pointer with 6:29 left to give Louisville its first lead 56-55 since the 1:39 mark in the first half. The Cardinals found Hancock open again for a 3-pointer with 1:15 left to take a 67-62 lead.
The Shockers pulled to within two twice in the final 31 seconds but a Hancock free throw and a heads up play after he missed the second kept Wichita State at bay. Hancock forced a tie up on a loose ball with Ron Baker rather than fouling, and Louisville got the ball back on alternating possession.
Smith made the first of two free throws with 4.9 seconds left to secure the win.
“I was actually waiting for our run and it happened,” Smith said. “Luke exploded. That was actually what I was waiting for. Then Chane (Behanon) exploded. Then Peyton (Siva) made a big layup. Then Tim Henderson. It just kept going and going.
“Obviously I knew it wasn’t my night. But I was just so happy to see everyone else contributing for us to win.”
Smith, an 82 percent free throw shooter, went 5-for-12 from the line and 6-for-17 from the floor as Wichita State kept cutting off his lanes to the basket unlike any other Louisville tournament opponent had. Smith still finished with 21 points and helped limit Shockers point guard Malcolm Armstead to two points on 1-for-10 shooting.
Wichita State had dictated tempo for most of the game and gave 75,350 fans at the Georgia Dome visions of a Villanova-worthy upset. Cleanthony Early put on an impressive display with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
But when Louisville turned up the pressure the Shockers broke down on a series of turnovers.
“At first you get used to it,” Baker said of Louisville’s pressure. “Then they increase the intensity of their pressure. It hits you in waves. Towards the end of the game, it kind of took over.”
Wichita State was playing in its second ever first Final Four and first since losing to John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins in the 1965 semifinals. They knocked off No. 1 seed Gonzaga and No. 2 seed Ohio State this time before becoming the closest of any team yet to knocking off Louisville.
“I think they’ve gained fans, support and love across the world,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said of his players. “They certainly proved that not only do they belong, but they can play with the best.”
The team that still looks to be the best moved on to the final to the delight of Ware, a former Rockdale High standout.
Ware took it all in from a chair at the end of Louisville’s bench, propping his elbow onto the raised court. But he couldn’t help himself at one point in the second half, hopping up onto the floor to join the Louisville huddle during a timeout.
“I thought he was about to sub in for me, I’m so used to it,” Siva said. “We know how much it would mean for him to be out there. He just tried to give us whatever we needed, the extra motivation, the extra boost to get over the hump. That’s what he did.”
Michigan came out looking like the more motivated team in the second semifinal against Syracuse, opening up an 11-point halftime lead on one of Trey Burke’s NBA-deep 3-pointers. But Syracuse and its stifling zone would make its mark.
Michigan managed only four field goals over the first 11 minutes of the second half, and the Orange closed to within 45-41 to make a game of it down the stretch.
Michigan re-built its lead to eight points 53-45 on a putback by Glenn Robinson III and a Mitch McGary 15-footer forcing Boeheim to call a timeout with 3:52 left. Michigan went cold again, watching Syracuse cut the lead in half and it was nip and tuck from there.
Syracuse senior guard Brandon Triche had predicted the Wolverines would have no answer for their wing C.J. Fair, and they didn’t; Fair scored 22 points. But Triche was the only other Syracuse player in double-digits with 11 points.
Point guard Michael Carter-Williams picked up two fouls in 26 seconds to foul out with 1:14 to play and left with only two points. He and Burke seemed to cancel each other out. Michigan’s star point guard scored only seven points on 1-for-8 shooting, but he ran a good floor game, finishing with four assists, only one turnover and three steals in 38 minutes.
“It was an off night for me,” Burke said. “I tried not to force things, though. I tried to just get guys involved.”
Michigan got 13 points from Tim Hardaway Jr., and 10 points, 12 rebounds and six assists from McGary. The Wolverines made just enough free throws to hold off Syracuse, hitting 6 of 11 in the final 1:19.
Triche made a couple of last gasps with a drive and basket with 50.2 seconds left but he missed the free throw that would have cut it to three points and then got called for charging to foul out on a potential game-tying play with 19.2 seconds left.
“I was just trying to make a play for the team,” Triche said. “I probably should have made a better decision.”
