Patrick Ewing (CAS ’85) won 120 basketball games during his playing days on the Hilltop, yet Sunday’s victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins marked the first win for Ewing as head coach of Georgetown’s men’s basketball.

The Hoyas (1-0) defeated the Dolphins (0-2) at the Capital One Arena 73-57 in a victory marked by two 20-point performances by junior center Jessie Govan and junior forward Marcus Derrickson.

“It was a great win. Every win is a great win. It’s great that I had Georgetown friends and non-Georgetown friends come. It meant a lot that they showed up to support me” Ewing said.

Georgetown’s home opener featured many sports celebrities in attendance, including NBA Hall of Famers Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and basketball legend Michael Jordan; and current Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter, former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy and Washington Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks.

With a star-studded crowd in attendance, the Hoyas came to play, gaining the lead early and never relinquishing it for the whole 40 minutes. After Ewing’s Hoyas held an 8-7 lead with 15:50 left in the first half, Georgetown exploded for a 13-0 run.

Freshman forward Jamarko Pickett and freshman guard Jahvon Blair each added a three-pointer and the Hoyas gained control with less than 10 minutes before halftime.

“We want to push the pace all the time. That’s what I’ve been stressing when I took the job,” Ewing said. Despite giving up 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, Georgetown held Jacksonville to only seven field goals.

“The guys did a great job of taking away the threes they got in the last game,” Ewing said.

Leading the Hoyas in scoring for the first half was junior forward Marcus Derrickson with 10 points. Just before the first half buzzer, Derrickson drilled a three pointer and the Hoyas led 36-20 going into the break.

“I was screening for my teammates, and my teammates were setting me up with pocket passes. I was open and was knocking them down,” Derrickson said.

For the second half, Derrickson and junior center Jessie Govan led the way for the Hoyas, combining for 22 points. Govan, who was selected to the Big East weekly honor roll, finished the game with 20 points and a team-high 15 rebounds.

“The whole team wanted to get coach a win in his first game, so for us to do that, I know I needed to make an impact on both sides of the ball,” Govan said.

Georgetown shot over 48 percent from the field in the second half and used their size advantage of Govan and Derrickson to outscore the Dolphins in the paint 20 to 10.

“They play zone because they don’t have anyone who can matchup them,” Ewing said. “The middle of the zone was very wide open, so we did a better job of getting the ball in there in the second half.”

The Govan-Derrickson show carried the Hoyas through, as the two scored 20 points apiece and at one point combined to make seven straight field goals for the Hoyas late in the second half.

“Jessie and Marcus, like I told everybody, in order for us to be successful, will have to be our mainstays, which they were,” Ewing said.

The Hoyas finished the game shooting 45.6 percent from the floor while limiting Jacksonville to only 32.7 percent shooting from the field. However, the Hoyas missed 16 of their 26 three-point attempts and turned the ball over 18 times.

Derrickson said the Hoyas feel they have more to work on as the season continues later this week.

“Starting off the [season] with 18 turnovers and they outrebound us, no [I’m] not really [happy]. We got a lot of work to do in practice to prepare for the next game,” Derrickson said

The Hoyas look to continue their successful start to the season as they return to action against Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday at Capital One Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on Fox Sports 2.