Look: Coach Cries 'Tears Of Joy' After NCAA Tournament Loss

Kennesaw State nearly joined the long list of mid-major March Madness legends on Friday. Unfortunately, the 14-seed Owls saw their upset bid of 3-seed Xavier come up just short, due in large part to a more than six-minute second half scoring drought.

Even though Kennesaw State lost 72-67, though, 2022 represented a dream season for the Owls. A program that went 1-28 just three seasons ago won the Atlantic Sun Conference and made its first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

As a result, it's no surprise that head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim got a bit emotional when asked in the postgame press conference to reflect on the season and the direction of the program moving forward.

Kyle Boone of CBS Sports captured the moment.

"The beginning was four years ago," Abdur-Rahim said, before choking up. "Tears of joy, man, because we made a commitment to this university. We made a commitment to these guys sitting next to me, man, that we were going to show up everyday for them. And when you get to a place like this, again, these are tears of joy, because it takes a special group of people to commit to something and stay to see their vision through."

Kennesaw State scored 43 points in the first half and led by 13 with less than 10 minutes to play.

Sadly for fans rooting for an upset, the Owls went cold down the stretch and Xavier erased the deficit, then scored the final five points of the game from the free throw line.

Despite the heartbreaking ending, Abdur-Rahim and the rest of the Kennesaw State program deserve to walk away from this season with their heads held high.