Louisville

Reporting from Phoenix -- Magic Johnson came to cheer for Michigan State and Muhammad Ali sat in Louisville's section. Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols asked for seats behind home plate but settled for two near courtside. There was plenty of buzz in advance of Thursday's NCAA West Regional semifinal game at US Airways Center. In the end, though, taking Louisville's best jab was just too tall an order. Led by 6-foot-11 center Gorgui Dieng's inside presence and seven blocked shots, No. 4 Louisville ran away with a 57-44 victory over top-seeded Michigan State.

at Connecticut 34, Louisville 25: Andre Dixon ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns and Connecticut beat Louisville for the Huskies first Big East win of the season. Cody Endres threw for 273 yards and a touchdown as the Huskies (4-2, 1-1) beat the Cardinals (2-4, 0-2) for the third consecutive season. Marcus Easley had 108 receiving yards, including a 16-yard touchdown on a screen pass from Endres that helped the Huskies blow open a 14-13 game with 17 third-quarter points. The Cardinals have lost nine of their last 10 games against Football Bowl Subdivision foes.

Kevin Ware collapsed in front of Louisville's bench on Sunday after gruesomely breaking his leg in the first half against Duke. Next Saturday in Atlanta, if all goes well, he'll be back on the bench for Louisville's NCAA national semifinal game against Wichita State. Ware had surgery Sunday night to repair the fracture and is reportedly resting comfortably at an Indianapolis hospital. “As long as nothing happens infection-wise, we expect him to come home tomorrow to Louisville,” Coach Rick Pitino said Monday on a national conference call with the three other Final Four coaches.

Kevin Ware was a busy guy on Monday. After having surgery on his broken right leg the night before, the Louisville guard spent part of the day up and about on crutches at the advice of his doctors. He entertained numerous visitors, including Coach Rick Pitino and NCAA President Mark Emmert, and received a phone call from Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Somehow he managed to spend some time on Twitter ... a lot of time, actually, thanking all of his well-wishers -- who included NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace of the Lakers, DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers, LeBron James of the Miami Heat and Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, as well as rapper Lil' Wayne -- often with individual messages of gratitude.

NEW ORLEANS — Folks on Bourbon Street and other rues are saying this might be the best Final Two in NCAA history. "All four teams here are great," Ohio State guard Aaron Craft said Friday. Oh yeah — four. But you wouldn't know it based on the buildup for Saturday's NCAA semifinal between Kentucky and Louisville. "I would say this is probably the most amped-up Final Four game in college basketball history," Louisville guard Peyton Siva said. Few big games in history — OK, no big game in history — has been preceded by rival fans getting in a fight while awaiting dialysis treatment.

The Actors Theater of Louisville's 10th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays--the most important showcase in the American theater--is off and running, headed for a big Visitors' Weekend March 21-23. The visitors grow more numerous every year, looking for another "Gin Game" or "Crimes of the Heart," two scripts that came to national attention via Louisville. This year there's a play from Los Angeles.

Reporting from Phoenix -- Rick Pitino coached Louisville past Florida and then, up the ladder, all the way through the net-cutting ceremony. He coached Louisville back from 11 points down, in the second half, and then shouted out the post-victory assignments. After Louisville's 72-68 victory over Florida on Saturday to clinch the NCAA West regional, Cardinals players took turns cutting snips of net at US Airways Center. It came down to one last strand. "All right, Chris," Pitino barked to senior guard Chris Smith, "take it down.

Louisville fans need to start mentally packing. Not for another league - although there's a lot of that going around in the Big East Conference - but for a major bowl. We understand that no Big East team cracked the top 25 of the USA Today coaches' preseason poll, and that the conference, operating with an interim commissioner, is crumbling faster than grandma's oatmeal cookies. But what's the problem? For two more seasons, remember, the Bowl Championship Series is what matters.

Three years ago, Louisville sophomore center Gorgui Dieng couldn't speak English. Last year, he didn't know how the NCAA tournament worked. When Morehead State eliminated Louisville in the first round, Dieng said he asked his coaches, "Why can't we play anymore?" He wasn't kidding. "I had no idea," he said. "I didn't know Sweet 16 last year. Honest. " Louisville has come a long way to reach its first Final Four since 2005, after finishing seventh in the Big East Conference.

The score, printed in tiny type on the agate page of most sports sections, almost certainly required a second glance. The particulars surrounding the non-league matchup between Louisville and Towson State were strange enough, but not nearly as extraordinary as the outcome: Towson State 81, Louisville 69. Believe it. It really happened Monday night before a near-capacity crowd of 4,281 on this tiny campus north of Baltimore.