Louisville's Luke Hancock driving for a shot past Wichita State's Carl Hall (22).
ATLANTA — In Louisville’s first 160 minutes of basketball this N.C.A.A. tournament, the Cardinals’ faithful could count how many times they were even moderately worried about their team on their hand. With five fingers down.
And then came Saturday’s national semifinal against the Wichita State Shockers, who, befitting their de facto motto, played angry, imposing their will on a team that had already expended a great deal of emotion and energy over the past week.
In the end, Louisville had just enough in reserve to topple the upstart Shockers, escaping the Georgia Dome with a 72-68 victory Saturday night to advance to the national championship in hopes of winning its first title since 1986. The Cardinals will play the winner of the Syracuse-Michigan game.
Louisville dealt with the loss of guard Kevin Ware, whose grotesque leg injury in the team’s regional final victory against Duke both unnerved and galvanized the team. Ware sat courtside, wearing his jersey, as he watched Luke Hancock emerge as the Cardinals’ best player; Chane Behanan shake off a difficult first half to become a force in the final 15 minutes; and Russ Smith make critical free throws in the last minute to seal the win.
Trailing by 47-35 with about 13 minutes remaining, Louisville embarked on a 21-8 run that was fueled by the outside shooting of Tim Henderson, the former walk-on elevated in Ware’s absence, and Luke Hancock, whose 3-pointer gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 56-55, with 6 minutes 31 seconds left.
With Peyton Siva practically invisible, Hancock stabilized a Louisville offense that came to resemble Novocain: give it time, and it will work. Hancock made the game’s biggest shot, a 3-pointer from the wing with 2:03 left that extended the Cardinals’ lead to 65-60. Wichita State drew to within 2 points, on a tip-in by Cleanthony Early with 31.6 seconds remaining, but no closer.
This was not just any Louisville team. This team had not lost since Feb. 9, in five overtimes at Notre Dame, winning its past 14 games by an average of 17.4 points. This team had the second-best turnover margin in the country, forced the second-most steals.
And, as was reinforced Saturday, this was not just any Wichita State team. The Shockers stampeded through the upset-riddled West Region, ousting the top two seeds, Gonzaga and Ohio State, en route to claiming the program’s first Final Four berth since 1965.
The Shockers respected Louisville’s vaunted press, but they did not fear it. “You know pressure busts pipes,” guard Malcolm Armstead said, “but it also makes diamonds.” Choosing the latter, Wichita State sparkled in the first half, committing just four turnovers. The Shockers handled the pressure so well because the pressure rarely surfaced. Louisville could not score often enough to administer it.
Scoring the first 8 points, Wichita State dealt Louisville what at the time was its largest deficit of the tournament. The Cardinals missed four free throws, all by Russ Smith, before their first field goal, more than five minutes into the game.
The absence of baskets emerged as a theme. Every clang was amplified by the microphones on the rims, a symphony of cacophony. But even while shooting 32.1 percent, the Shockers still considered the first half a victory because they played at a slower pace, preventing Louisville from engaging in its transition game.
Earlier in the week, Pitino paid Wichita State the ultimate compliment, characterizing its defense as “Marquette on steroids.” Performance-enhancing, indeed. The Shockers hounded and they swarmed. They turned the lane into a password-protected zone, and it was as if Louisville lost the key. With Gorgui Dieng neutralized inside and Smith unable to penetrate, the Cardinals opted for outside shots, taking 13 three-pointers in the first half, and heading into intermission at the wrong end of a 26-25 score..
