National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 85, Duke 63
When: 5:05 PM ET, Sunday, March 31, 2013
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: # Tony Greene, # Doug Shows, # Scott Thornley
Attendance: 34657

Louisville 85, Duke 63:
Russ Smith scored 23 points and Gorgui Dieng collected 14 and 11 rebounds as the top-seeded Cardinals overwhelmed the Blue Devils in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional final at Indianapolis.

Peyton Siva added 16 points for Louisville (33-5), which won its 14th straight game and earned its second consecutive trip to the Final Four. The Cardinals, who will face Wichita State on Saturday, lost backup guard Kevin Ware to an ugly leg injury in the first half but dominated after the break, outscoring No. 2 seed Duke 50-31 in the second period.

Mason Plumlee recorded 17 points and 12 boards as the Blue Devils (30-6) saw their NCAA Tournament run come to an end.

Duke tied it at 42 early in the second half but went 8:14 without a field goal as Louisville took control. Dieng scored eight points and Siva added six during a 20-4 burst that put the Cardinals in control 62-46 with 8:49 left.

Quinn Cook snapped the Blue Devils’ drought with a layup at the 8:05 mark but Duke could not get back into the game. Smith’s free throw stretched it out to 73-54 with 3:42 left and Louisville coasted to the finish.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ware was injured with 6:33 left in the first when he leaped to block a shot and landed awkwardly, causing his left leg to buckle in gruesome fashion. Ware’s Louisville teammates were visibly shaken by the injury - some were brought to tears - as Ware was being placed on a stretcher and taken off the floor. The game was stopped for nine minutes and Ware was taken to a hospital to treat a broken leg. … Duke freshman G Rasheed Sulaimon was held to 1-for-10 from the floor before fouling out. … Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski was denied a 12th trip to the Final Four, which would have tied the record held by UCLA coach John Wooden.
Top Game Performances
 
Duke   Louisville
Mason Plumlee 17 Scoring Russ Smith 23
Quinn Cook 5 Assists Peyton Siva 4
Mason Plumlee 12 Rebounds Gorgui Dieng 11
Quinn Cook 6 Free Throws Made Russ Smith 9
Rasheed Sulaimon 2 Steals Chane Behanan 3
Ryan Kelly 1 Blocks Gorgui Dieng 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Duke 63 36.5 4-16 21-28 11 26 2 4 12
Louisville 85 52.7 2-13 25-36 8 35 9 10 8