Kevin Ware: Louisville player snaps leg during NCAA Tournament game against Duke

A University of Louisville basketball player has suffered a horrific leg fracture that left the bone in his right leg protruding on live TV.

Kevin Ware, 20, jumped high in the air to block a three-point shot during the Louiseville-Duke game on Sunday night when he landed badly on the leg as he crashed to the court.

Teammates and Coach Rick Pinoto were in tears as Ware screamed with pain and writhed on the court.

Hurt: Ware, 20, is comforted by teammate Luke Hancock after the horrific injury. He was quickly loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital

Inspiration: Despite unimaginable pain, Ware reportedly told teammates not to worry about him and to focus on winning the game

An official told several reporters that a bone snapped. Trainers immediately covered the leg with a towel and placed Ware on a backboard, then lifted him onto a stretcher.

CBS reported that Ware whispered encouragement to his team as he was carried away: 'Don't worry about me. I'll be OK. Go win this thing.'

Ware's teammates responded to the shock of his loss by retuing to the court with a vengeance. The second half of the game saw Louisville dominate Duke - clobbering the Blue Devils 85-63.

Louisville will plays Wichita State in the Final Four next weekend. The winner of that game plays for the NCAA men's basketball championship.

His teammates held up a jersey with Ware's name as they celebrated their resounding victory.

Silence fell over Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the Elite Eight game was being played, as horrified fans waited for news of Ware's condition.

The injury occurred with 6:33 left in the first half as Duke's Tyler Thoton made a 3-pointer to get the Blue Devils within 21-20. Ware tried to contest the shot and his leg buckled when he landed, bending gruesomely.

Sickened: Ware's teammates sobbed on the court after seeing their friend so badly injured during the game

The injury happened in front of the Louisville bench, and the Cardinals were overcome with emotion.

Russ Smith collapsed onto the floor, along with several players, and was clearly crying as doctors attended to Ware.

As Ware was being loaded onto a stretcher, the Cardinals gathered at midcourt until coach Rick Pitino called them over, saying that Ware wanted to talk to them before he left.

Pitino wiped away his eyes as Ware was wheeled out, as did several of the Louisville players.

Former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann, who famously sustained a broken leg during a Monday night football game against the New York Giants, tweeted, 'Watching Duke/ Louisville my heart goes out to Kevin Ware.'

'Worst thing I've ever seen on a basketball court,' tweeted Yahoo basketball analyst Pat Forde.

Ware, a native of the Bronx, New York, is a sophomore guard who has become a force on the number-one-ranked Cardinals team during the NCAA Touament.

ESPN.com reports he could undergo surgery tonight at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Team officials say his pain is 'under control.'