Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Louisville Cardinals: 2012-2013 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Champions


           For the first time in 17 years, the Louisville Cardinals Men’s Basketball team can call themselves National Champions.
            In what was one of the greatest title games in recent memories, the Cardinals used a 45-point second half performance to defeat the Michigan Wolverines 82-76 last night in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
            On a morning that started out with coach Rick Pitino being named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Pitino became the first Division I coach to win a championship with two different teams. Pitino also guided Kentucky to a title in 1996.
            The Cardinals came up just short in the 2012 NCAA Tournament as they lost to the eventual national champion and also their in-state rival, the Kentucky Wildcats 69-61 in the Final Four.
            Louisville entered the season as the #2 team in the Associated Press preseason poll. They returned one of the most experienced backcourt duos in the nation in G Russ Smith and G Peyton Silva.  Louisville was picked to win the Big East along with Silva being named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year.
            The Cardinals started off the season by winning 16 of their first 17 but then lost three straight to Syracuse, Villanova, and Georgetown. But the Cardinals finished the season hot by winning 9 straight and their second straight Big East Title.
            It was the first half of the Midwest Region Final. G Kevin Ware was coming off of a career high 11 points against Oregon in the Sweet Sixteen. Ware went up to close out after a Duke three-pointer and fell down awkwardly, thinking he had hurt his right ankle. The video says it all as Ware snapped his right leg in three places and suffered a compound fracture in his right leg. Players and coaches on both sides were distraught as Ware lay on the floor as trainers worked on him. I have never seen a coach give such emotion like I saw Pitino did during and after the Ware injury. From then on, the Cardinals decided to play the tournament for Ware. Perhaps the greatest part of winning the title last night for the Cardinals players was Ware being able to cut down a piece of the net in his hometown.
            The Cardinals played the whole season as one of the best teams in the nation and were rewarded last night with their third title in school history. Congrats to the whole team on the accomplishment and thus ends the 2012-2013 NCAA basketball season.
         
            image was used from usatoday.com

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