Kennesaw State Earns 1st-Ever NCAA Tournament Bid With Atlantic Sun Tournament Win

Kennesaw State has punched its ticket to the men's NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.

With a 67-66 win over Liberty in the Atlantic Sun tournament championship game, the Owls have clinched an automatic bid to go dancing during March Madness this year.

Senior guard Terrell Burden, who had a team-high 19 points for Kennesaw State, made one of two free throws with one second left on the clock to give the Owls the one-point win. Three other starters scored in double figures, and the team shot 40 percent (6-of-15) from beyond the arc while holding Liberty to 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from three-point range.

Winning the conference title completes a massive turnaround for Kennesaw State under head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. He was hired in 2019, and the team went 1-28 in his first season at the helm. Undeterred, he led the team to improvements in each of the next two years before the culmination of his efforts was realized this year.

Kennesaw State is 26-8 and went 15-3 in conference play this season, its first winning season in program history. Abdur-Rahim was named ASUN Coach of the Year.

The Owls have an experienced roster with all upperclassmen outside of just three freshman and one sophomore. Junior guard Chris Youngblood leads the team with 14.6 points per game, followed by Burden's 13.3 points per game.

Kennesaw State will have an entire week to celebrate before finding out its placement in the tournament bracket on Selection Sunday on March 12.