Kevin Ware lays in hospital bed with the NCAA Midwest Regional trophy (Picture)

After defeating Duke in the NCAA Midwest Regional final on Sunday night, the Louisville Cardinals had only one person on their minds. Sophomore guard Kevin Ware suffered one of the most gruesome leg injuries you will ever see in the first half of his team’s convincing 85-63 victory. However, he still managed to get his hands on the trophy shortly after it was presented to his teammates.

As you can see from the photo above that Peyton Siva shared on Instagram, the Cardinals brought the trophy signifying their Final Four berth to Ware’s hospital room. There was no question his broken leg helped inspire Louisville in the second half, as Ware reportedly kept telling his teammates to “win the game” while trainers were tending to his injury.

From a basketball standpoint, Louisville is deep enough to overcome Ware’s injury. The question was how they would react emotionally, and I think Rick Pitino’s team answered that in the second half against Duke. After the game, one of Ware’s teammates wore his jersey as a tribute to him. Expect the Cardinals to continue to draw motivation from Ware in the Final Four.

H/T Game On!