Gruesome Injury Rocks NCAA Tourney

Louisville's Ware urges teammates to win after leg snaps in two places
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 1, 2013 2:25 AM CDT
Player Suffers Gruesome Injury During NCAA Tournament
Trainers check on Louisville guard Kevin Ware after he broke his lower right leg during the first half of the Midwest Regional final against Duke in the NCAA college basketball tournament.   (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Louisville guard Kevin Ware is recovering from what commentators say is the most horrific injury they've ever seen in a basketball game. Ware snapped his right leg in two places as he landed from a jump in the first half of the Cardinals' Midwest Regional final against Duke, leaving his broken tibia bone sticking six inches out of his skin, USA Today reports. Surgery last night was successful, but Ware is expected to be out for at least a year.

Ware's teammates went on to beat Duke, 85-63. Before Ware was stretchered out of the stadium, he called his teammates over and urged them to win the game. "The bone's 6 inches out of his leg, and all he's yelling is, 'Win the game, win the game,'" Louisville coach Rick Pitino tells the AP. "I've not seen that in my life." Louisville will pay for Ware's surgery, but he was playing for no pay beyond a scholarship and NCAA regulations shield the organization from compensation claims, Forbes notes. (More Kevin Ware stories.)

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