The magical ride of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County men's basketball team ended Sunday night when the Retrievers suffered a 50-43 loss to Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Their Friday win over No. 1 overall seed Virginia -- the first time a 16-seed had defeated a 1-seed in 136 opening-round matchups in the men's tournament -- catapulted the program to immediate fame.
"I'm proud of my guys, man,'' UMBC senior guard Jourdan Grant said. "We made history. Can't be mad at that. I wouldn't want to go out with another set of guys, man. I love these guys to the moon and back. This season, we'll remember it for the rest of our lives.''
As UMBC coach Ryan Odom emptied his bench with 9.4 seconds left, the crowd gave the Retrievers a standing ovation. The players hugged at midcourt. After the game ended, players walked to the side of the court and gave their fans an appreciative wave.
"These kids made history, and it's unbelievable how they were able to capture the entire country," Odom said after the game. "It's just really special."
The dream had ended, but some players managed smiles as they left the court.
"[UMBC] played their hearts out,'' Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. "UMBC, you've got to give Coach Odom credit. What they did to Virginia was unbelievable.''
UMBC's scrappy defense forced 18 turnovers but managed just three points off of them. They finished 6-of-22 from 3-point range two nights after lighting up Virginia. And they went 9-of-18 from the free throw line.
"This entire week has been amazing up until the last two hours,'' UMBC guard Joe Sherburne said. "We connected with people around the world. We could tell during the game how many people were rooting for us.''
K.J. Maura, the 5-foot-8 point guard, said: "We put our name on the map. We gave hope to smaller seeds.''
In the wake of UMBC's demolition of top-ranked Virginia, the campus bookstore, usually closed on weekends, logged special hours Saturday and Sunday to allow fans, old and new, to buy UMBC gear. The school filed for multiple trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including "Retriever Nation," according to a report by ESPN's Darren Rovell.
Steph Curry and Under Armour supplied the entire team with limited-release-edition Curry 5 shoes for Sunday's matchup against Kansas State. The official Twitter feed for UMBC Athletics that entered Friday's win over Virginia with just 5,000 followers had 109,000 followers by Sunday night.
Both Odom and Jairus Lyles, the hero of the upset, were featured in multiple nationally televised interviews. But it all ended Sunday after a Retrievers squad that made more than 50 percent of its 3-pointers against a Virginia team that entered the game with a defense ranked first in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom.com, encountered a lengthy drought in the second half against K-State. The Retrievers registered just one field goal in a crucial 10-minute stretch. Lyles finished 4-for-15 in the game.
Still, UMBC will always be the author of the most historic upset in men's NCAA tournament history.
Information from ESPN's David Hale and The Associated Press was used in this report.