After being down by as many as 12 points in the second half, Louisville stormed back down the stretch in the first of two Final Four games at the Georgia Dome. The Cardinals forced several late Shocker turnovers to regain the lead and hold off the No. 9 seed, 72-68.
Wichita State went into the half with a one-point lead, 26-25, and took advantage of Louisville's slow start. The Shockers jumped out to an 8-0 lead and kept Louisville's guards (Peyton Siva and Russ Smith) at bay in the first half.
With roughly 13 minutes to play and trailing by double digits for the first time in the tournament, Louisville decided to wake up.
Hancock scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half, highlighted by a stretch where he scored five straight points with less than two minutes to play to help Louisville extend the lead for good.
Hancock and seldom-used guard Tim Henderson both hit multiple threes in the second half to help Louisville erase the deficit and eventually capture the national semifinal win on Saturday night.
Smith added 21 points for Louisville, capping off a rough shooting night from the field for both he and fellow guard Siva. Siva had seven points on just 1-of-9 shooting, while Smith shot 6-of-17 from the floor.
Despite being down late, the Shockers were a missed free throw away from having a shot to tie the game late. Louisville was diligent at the free-throw line, though, and managed to close out the Shockers for good in this tournament after Hancock tied up Ron Baker with 6.3 seconds to play. The arrow went to Louisville, and the game did also.
Cleanthony Early led the Shockers with 24 points, time and time again hitting the big basket or getting the putback that kept Wichita State alive in this game. Carl Hall and Baker both finished in double figures for Gregg Marshall's team, capping a magical run to the Final Four.
Malcolm Armstead, the West Region's Most Outstanding Player, finished with just two points on 1-of-10 shooting. He did not hit a three-pointer.
The Cardinals will move on to the championship game on Monday night, where they will face the winner of the second 2013 Final Four game of the evening—No. 4 Syracuse and No. 4 Michigan.
To get things started, think about this tweet from ESPN's Stats and Information. Wichita State has been a front-runner all season but lost for the second time when leading at halftime this season:
While the "dome" theory was a popular reason for the shooting struggles of Siva and Smith, Michael DeCourcy of the Big Ten Network wasn't buying it:
In all seriousness, though, Baker was a big reason for the team's success. SI's Stewart Mandell voiced his thoughts on Baker's big tournament:
Prior to the game, the ESPN U Twitter account posted an unreal stat about Smith in the open court. He had just two transition points at halftime and finished with six:
In what could come down as one of the most scrutinized calls in college basketball history, the quick whistle gave the Cardinals the ball with 6.3 seconds to play. Jason Horowitz had the tweet that really says it all (referring to the double foul on Baker and Stephan Van Treese late in the second half):
With Kevin Ware watching from the sidelines with an operated-on leg, the Cardinals were clearly pressing in the early stages of this game. Smith and Siva both were thwarted from the outside, and the Cardinals didn't look like the same team that created turnovers and wreaked havoc early on in this tournament.
The pair was raining down threes in the second half, leading to the emotion we thought we would see all night from Louisville on the heels of Ware's injury.
Wichita State will look back on its four-turnover section of the game as the biggest regret of this tournament, and you have to feel for a guy like Armstead, who had a rough night from both the field and in the playmaking department.
As it is, Louisville's experience and the emergence of Hancock as an offensive forward will catapult it into the championship game on Monday night in Atlanta.
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