David J. Phillip / AP

Louisville forward Chane Behanan (21) celebrates after defeating Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA Final Four championship game, April 8, in Atlanta, Ga.

By Rob Dauster, CollegeBasketballTalk on NBCSports.com

It started out as a sideshow, the kind of performance that you should always expect to see in a national title game simply because it’s so unexpected.

Michigan’s Spike Albrecht, the 5-foot-11 back-up point guard who looks more like a manager than a baller and scored 24 points during the Big Ten season, lit up the Cardinals with 17 points in the first half. Michigan took a 33-21 lead despite having to play with National Player of the Year Trey Burke glued to the bench with two fouls. Luke Hancock answered with four three-pointers in the span of two minutes and erased the Louisville deficit in the amount of time it takes microwave a bag of popcorn.

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Charlie Neibergall / AP

Michigan guard Trey Burke walks off the court after the Louisville Cardinals won the NCAA men's basketball championship game.

Charlie Neibergall / AP

Michigan guard Trey Burke shoots over Louisville center Gorgui Dieng during Monday's NCAA title game.

Chris Keane / Reuters

Injured Louisville Cardinals guard Kevin Ware cuts down the net after the Cardinals defeated the Michigan Wolverines at Monday's NCAA title game in Atlanta.

Jeff Haynes / Reuters

Louisville Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino calls to the referees to stop the game as Cardinals guard Kevin Ware lays on the court with a broken leg in the first half against the Duke Blue Devils during their Midwest Regional NCAA men's basketball game in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 31, 2013.

Darron Cummings / AP

Louisville players talk to guard Kevin Ware after Ware's injury during the first half of the Midwest Regional Final against Duke in the NCAA basketball tournament March 31 in Indianapolis, Ind.

By Rob Dauster, CollegeBasketballTalk on NBCSports.com

Kevin Ware was taken off the court on a stretcher in the first half of Louisville’s regional final against Duke on Sunday afternoon after suffering the worst injury I’ve ever seen in a sporting event.

After challenging a three that Tyler Thornton took from the wing, he landed wrong on his right leg and suffered a compound fracture. His shin bone was protruding through his skin.

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Andy Lyons / Getty Images

Wayne Blackshear #20 and Chane Behanan #21 of the Louisville Cardinals react after Kevin Ware #5 suffered a compound fracture to his leg in the first half against the Duke Blue Devils during the Midwest Regional Final round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 31, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This story was originally published on Sun Mar 31, 2013 7:11 PM EDT

Win McNamee / Getty Images

Durand Scott #1 of the Miami Hurricanes goes to the hoop against Jamil Wilson #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles during the East Regional Round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Verizon Center on March 28, 2013 in Washington, DC. 

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Laszlo Balogh / Reuters

Youths play basketball at a neighborhood court on the eve of the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games in Lewisham, south London, on July 26. Enthusiasm over Britain's Olympic basketball team has filled London's street-ball courts, offering hope for the domestic game.

Laszlo Balogh / Reuters

A youth holds a basketball at a neighborhood court on the eve of the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games in Lewisham, London, on July 26.

Reuters -- A year on from riots that shook British society to its core, the UK's Olympic athletes have a responsibility to show London's young population a different way forward, basketball player Pops Mensah-Bonsu said on Wednesday.

"I was born and raised right behind Tottenham police station, where everything kicked off last year. It really hurt my heart watching all of that happening," Mensah-Bonsu, a former NBA player with the Toronto Raptors, told a news conference ahead of the official opening of the Games on Friday.

Basketball is still firmly a minority sport in the UK but the majority of its players come from London's Afro-Caribbean communities, where friction with the police was the spark for the worst riots in a generation last August.

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Larry W. Smith / AP

Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh dunks against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Game 2 of the NBA finals on Thursday night.

AP reports: LeBron James asked for help, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh provided it. The Miami Heat finally rediscovered the formula to winning in the NBA Finals - barely.

James scored 32 points, Wade rebounded from a poor opener with 24 and the Heat built a huge early lead before holding off a furious fourth-quarter rally behind their three All-Stars to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-96 on Thursday night to tie the series at one game apiece. Continue reading this story.

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Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

Jabari Parker finds a quiet corner in his Chicago home to text friends on March 3, 2012. There are more religious reminders than there are basketball awards in the Parkers' South Shore neighborhood house. One exception is the MVP trophy Jabari earned while leading the U.S. to the gold medal at the FIBA Americans U-16 championship on the dining room credenza, sitting beneath a large print of Jesus asking The Rich Man to give all he had to the poor.

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

Parker stands before a television spotlight for an interview after he led his team to an Illinois State High School super-sectional tournament win on March 13, 2012.

Andrew Seligman of The Associated Press reports — This is what it's like to be Jabari Parker, the nation's top high school basketball player.

 One day he's presenting a project in his Spanish class, turns around and sees Alonzo Mourning. Parker takes a seat and grins. The former Miami Heat star is making a surprise visit to give him the Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year award.

And there are nights like this.

Parker and his teammates from Simeon Career Academy are holed up in a classroom after beating Whitney Young in the Illinois state playoffs.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Michigan State's Tom Izzo were in the stands. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his wife were there, too, sitting next to Parker's mom, Lola.

As Simeon holds its postgame meeting, a crowd gathers in the hallway, waiting to get a glimpse of the team and its 17-year-old star. Parker slips out a back entrance, trying to make a quiet exit.

Nice try, but no luck. It's hard to hide when you're 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds. Continue reading.

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

Parker celebrates with his Simeon Career Academy teammates after winning an Illinois state super sectional playoff game on March 13, 2012. For all the attention Jabari gets, Simeon coach Robert Smith says: "He doesn't want this to be about him. He wants it to be about the team."

M. Spencer Green / AP

Parker walks down the school hallway after he was named the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year on April 12, 2012.

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

Parker sits in solitude, preparing mentally during player introductions for the Chicago City Championship basketball game against Proviso East on Feb. 17, 2012.

David J. Phillip / AP

Kentucky players celebrate at the end of the NCAA Final Four tournament on Monday night.

Jeff Gross / Getty Images

Travis Releford #24 and Elijah Johnson #15 of the Kansas Jayhawks react after losing to the Kentucky Wildcats 67-59 on Monday night.

AP reports: NEW ORLEANS - No matter where Anthony Davis and his buddies go to make their millions, their ol' Kentucky home will long remember this championship season. The Wildcats hit the jackpot with their lottery picks Monday night, ignoring Davis' bad shooting night and parlaying a roster full of NBA talent into a 67-59 victory over Kansas for the team's eighth national title - and its first since 1998.

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