SB Nation Chicago: All Posts by David Cassilo

• Hancock plays hero for Louisville vs. Michigan

• GIFs: Trey Burke's awesome block (which was called a foul)

Ryan Kelly injury: Duke F undergoes foot surgery

2013-04-09T15:09:11Z

On Tuesday, Duke forward Ryan Kelly will undergo surgery on the right foot that kept him out 13 games this season. During the season it was unclear if surgery would ever be necessary, but the decision to go forward with it was made after Duke was eliminated from the NCAA tournament, according to The Chronicle.

More: Blue vs. Blue

After sitting out those 13 games this season, Kelly came back in a memorable way by pouring in 36 points against Miami. That would prove to be the best he would look all season, though. In the NCAA tournament, he averaged 6.3 points per game and went 1-for-13 from beyond the arc.

For the season, Kelly averaged 12.9 points and 5.3 assists per game for Duke.

His Duke career ended in the Elite Eight with a loss to eventual champion Louisville, so the focus on his recovery is if he will be ready for draft workouts. There is currently no timetable for his return, but an update is expected after surgery.

More in College Basketball:

• Hancock plays hero for Louisville vs. Michigan

• GIFs: Trey Burke's awesome block (which was called a foul)

Louisville men's team denied request to travel for women's title game

2013-04-09T14:48:08Z

UPDATE: The NCAA offered an expedited waiver for Louisville to attend the women's game, but the school declined due to travel plans already in place, reports ESPN's Brett McMurphy.

With one national title in the books, the Louisville men's basketball team hoped to travel down to New Orleans to watch the women's team battle Connecticut for a championship on Tuesday night. That request has been denied by the NCAA, though, according to Jody Demling of Cardinal Authority.

More: Card Chronicle Swish Appeal

A school-funded trip to New Orleans to attend the women's title game would be deemed an extra benefit by the NCAA. Essentially, if the Louisville players want to go, they will need to pay their own way there.

What Rick Pitino's squad will likely be missing is a chance to see Louisville in the women's championship for just the second time in school history. The last time the Cardinals were there was in 2009, when they lost to Connecticut, 76-54.

A win for Louisville would match a Division I accomplishment that has only been pulled off in 2004, when both the men's and women's team from Connecticut won the national title. On Monday night, the Louisville men's team defeated Michigan, 82-76, in the championship game.

The women's game will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN on Tuesday.

More in College Basketball:

• GIFs: Trey Burke's awesome block (which was called a foul)

Michigan vs. Louisville, 2013 NCAA Championship: Wolverines unable to get things going in 2nd half

2013-04-09T14:18:16Z

With the 82-76 loss to the Louisville Cardinals in the national title game, the best season in 20 years for the Michigan Wolverines came to an end on Monday night.

Although the early heroics of Spike Albrecht had some feeling that Michigan was a team of destiny, Louisville quickly responded due to the shooting from Luke Hancock.

After the halftime, the game belonged to Louisville, and as SB nation's Michigan blog Maize n Brew points out, that was partly because Trey Burke had little supporting help over the final 20 minutes.

The second half would see Michigan struggle to consistently execute as Louisville had all the right moves. The lead would slowly grow despite the efforts of Trey Burke, who finished with 24 points despite spending 14 first half minutes on the bench. Mitch McGary, the tournament's breakout star, would score just six points and pull in six rebounds while getting into foul trouble midway through the second half.

Louisville won because of pressure, which forced Michigan into a number of uncharacteristic mistakes, and offensive rebounding in the second half.

In the end, Michigan fell short of both a Big Ten and NCAA title, but the season was still the best the school has had since the Fab Five. The attention now turns to which Michigan players will return for next season.

More in College Basketball:

• GIFs: Trey Burke's awesome block (which was called a foul)

Tarik Black transferring from Memphis, says Josh Pastner

2013-04-09T13:52:22Z

With his role on the Memphis Tigers declining, Tarik Black has decided to transfer from Memphis for his senior season. Because he is graduating in the spring, Black does not have to sit out a season, according to Jason Smith of The Commercial Appeal.

Black averaged career-lows in minutes, points and rebounds for Memphis this past season. After starting 55 games during the first two seasons, he started just five games as a junior. He lost that starting job after walking out of a practice.

In wake of his departure, Memphis coach Josh Pastner said he was happy to see him get his degree at Memphis (via the Commercial Appeal):

"I just think maybe he wants a little change of scenery. But like I said, he's graduating in three years and part of my responsibility is to make sure these guys have an opportunity to graduate. Tarik's getting his degree. We wish him nothing but the very best wherever he chooses to go."

One condition of his release from Memphis is that Black cannot transfer to any school that will be on the Tigers' schedule next season.

More in College Basketball:

• GIFs: Trey Burke's awesome block (which was called a foul)

NCAA championship 2013, Louisville vs. Michigan: Luke Hancock secures place in Final Four history

2013-04-09T13:34:17Z

Long before the Louisville Cardinals defeated the Michigan Wolverines 82-76 to win the national title, Rick Pitino's squad was in danger of being run out of the building. Michigan's Spike Albrecht was playing the game of his life, and the Wolverines appeared poised to close the half up by double digits.

Enter Luke Hancock, who got his team back into the game by hitting four three-pointers in the final three minutes to cut the Michigan lead to one point at the half.

Hancock would finish with 22 points, the Most Outstanding Player trophy and a place in Louisville history. As SB Nation's Louisville blog Card Chronicle writes, it wasn't long ago that the fans wished he would never see the court.

Cardinal fans quickly took to the Internet to declare that Hancock "wasn't a Louisville caliber player." There were also a handful of instances at home games where the "oooos" from the crowd weren't shows of support in the form of a first-name cheer.

While Hancock erased doubts for most across the country with his Final Four performances, it was his reaction to the Kevin Ware injury that began to endear him to the Louisville faithful. As Card Chronicle recalls, Hancock rushed over to his injured teammate and said a prayer.

Ware, who was attempting to fight off shock at the time, expressed days later just how much Hancock's actions allowed him to stay strong in front of the rest of his teammates.

"I really, really want to thank Luke," Ware said at a press conference three days later. "Because Luke jumped right on the scene like the captain that he is and just said a prayer for me. When he was saying that prayer what was going through my head was I'm either going to cry and my team is going to be devastated and we probably won't win this game or I'm going to just try to say some words to get us through."

No matter what happened in Atlanta, Hancock was a true Cardinal in the fans' eyes after that moment. Luckily for Louisville, though, Hancock wasn't done.

The "role player" had his two highest point totals of the season in his final two games, and on a team full of potential NBA players, it was his performance that will never be forgotten.

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