CHICAGO — Georges Niang walked off the court wearing an Iowa State jersey for the final time on Friday night when the Cyclones fell to No. 1 Virginia in the Sweet 16.

Niang, who has won more games in an Iowa State jersey than anyone else, wasn’t ready to take the jersey off. He joked that he might just sleep with the jersey on.

Eventually, he’ll take off his No. 31 jersey and hang it up for good, but the memories made while wearing the jersey will never fade.

“It’s obviously rough,” Niang said. “Obviously feels like it’s too soon. But you got to move on. It stinks to move on, but the memories that these guys have given me over these years, it’ll feel like my jersey will be on for a lifetime.”

Virginia jumped all over Iowa State right from the start, sprinting out to a 17 point lead before 10 minutes of game time had even gone by. The Cyclones, who had rallied so many times, tried to rally one last time.

But Virginia didn’t get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for nothing. The Cavaliers and their efficient offense and crushing defense were built to sustain leads.

“Lets go down swinging,” Niang said he told the team at halftime. “That’s what we did. We had some faults, we had some errors but the effort wasn’t lacking. I’ll forever be proud to call myself a Cyclone.”

Niang will forever be proud to call himself a Cyclone, and Iowa State fans will forever be proud to accept him as they’re own. The Massachusetts native almost accidentally called Iowa his home state in the week leading up to the Sweet 16 game.

At his senior night speech, an emotional Niang said that he would always have a home in Iowa State. Now that it’s all said and done, Niang will have to move on.

Going out with a loss is never easy, but Niang, who has accomplished so much and worked so hard, can look back on his four years at Iowa State with pride.

“I don’t want to say I’m content with being able to hang up my jersey,” Niang said, “because obviously it feels like it’s too soon and it happened too fast.

“But with me knowing that I put every ounce of me into this university and this basketball program there is some part of me that is okay with being able to step back for a second and watch as a fan or alumni now just because I know I put my heart and soul into this university and this basketball program and I gave it everything that I got.”

That doesn’t make the loss much easier. Niang walked out of the locker room and headed toward the press conference room with a towel draped over his head and his eyes bloodshot from tears.

The end of something so great is hard to take.

“It should be a happy moment for me,” Niang said. “All this happened. So much great came out of a such a decision — a small point in time when I made the decision to come here — and if I could rewind time, definitely like Coach Hoiberg said [I] would enjoy it [more].”

It’s hard to fully appreciate the good times until they’re over. For Niang, though, those good times led to lasting memories and, more importantly, lasting relationships.

“At some points of the year we weren’t really a team,” Niang said. “We were all over the place. I think the biggest thing is walking off the court I knew that I had come together with my teammates and we formed a team.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for these guys for the rest of my life and I think that’s the thing I’m most proud about. Through all the hardship, a coaching change, everything, the heartbreak, the tough losses, the losing streaks, we came together as one and really put something special together.”

Niang and fellow seniors Abdel Nader and Jameel McKay were apart of something special at Iowa State. ISU coach Steve Prohm credited them with putting Iowa State basketball back on the map.

“They led a renaissance of Iowa State basketball,” Prohm said. “They put Iowa State basketball back on the national scene. Two Sweet 16s in the last three years. Not many programs can say that.”

Iowa State will return a host of talent next year, but the seniors will definitely be missed.

“I just wish we could have sent [the seniors] out the right way,” said junior Matt Thomas. “I’m going to miss playing with all of them.”

Naz Mitrou-Long, who was supposed to be a senior this year, but will likely be granted a medical redshirt and return for his final season next year, said watching the seniors play their final game was tough to swallow.

“I love those guys,” Mitrou-Long said. “I’m going to be their brother forever. I’m going to talk to them forever and I’m so happy that we crossed paths.

Niang struggled to put into words what Iowa State as a whole has meant to him, from his teammates to his coaches to the fans to the university.

“I could never pay them back for the memories,” Niang said.

Likewise, Georges. Likewise.