The John Carroll statue has not changed much since it was sculpted by Jerome Connor in 1912, but on Jan. 21, 2006, it was treated to a small makeover.

Somebody posted an announcement to the front and sides of its base. Apparently, something so momentous had happened that the walls of Red Square were not big enough to proclaim it.

The three-word statement summed up the amazing news: ‘We Beat Duke.’/p>

To be more precise, the Hoyas upset the previously undefeated No. 1 Blue Devils, 87-84, and vaulted into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2001. The victory was Georgetown’s first against a No. 1 team since 1985. Though the signs were soon removed from the statue, Georgetown fans will not soon forget the day that the students stormed the court at then-MCI Center.

The win against Duke was one of 23 victories by the Hoyas last season to go along with 10 losses. After tying for fourth place in the Big East with a 10-6 league mark, Georgetown played well in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual national champion Florida by a score of 57-53. Georgetown ended the season ranked 16th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, far exceeding preseason expectations.

In their non-league games to start the year, the Hoyas went 9-2. The two losses came at home against Vanderbilt on Nov. 26 and on the road against Illinois on Dec. 8. In the Illinois game,

Georgetown scored a mere 13 points in the first half ” a drought that foreshadowed the offensive woes that, at times, plagued the Hoyas.

‘We dug a hole that was a little too deep to dig ourselves out of against a quality team,’Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III told the Associated Press after the 58-48 loss to the Fighting Illini.

Georgetown’s most impressive early-season wins came against Oregon and the University of Texas at El Paso. On Dec. 3, the Hoyas defeated the Ducks in Eugene 71-57 behind a career-high 25 points by then-senior guard Ashanti Cook. Georgetown took down UTEP, a team that finished the season 21-10, by a score of 76-64 on Dec. 28 to win the Sun Bowl Tournament.

The Hoyas opened Big East play with convincing wins over Providence and St. John’s, but then faced their most difficult two-game stretch of the regular season. On Jan. 11, Georgetown lost at West Virginia 68-61 then fell at Connecticut 74-67. Though the Hoyas found themselves on a losing streak, the close games against the nationally-ranked powers demonstrated that Georgetown had the potential to compete with the best teams in the country.

The Hoyas proceeded to nearly lose at MCI Center to the last-place team in the Big East, the South Florida Bulls, setting up the highly anticipated face-off against Duke. Despite Georgetown’s lackluster 50-47 win against South Florida, fifth-year senior guard Darrel Owens predicted a strong showing by the Hoyas against the Blue Devils.

‘We know what we’re up against and I think we’re up for the challenge,’Owens said to The Hoya.

Owens proved right. The Hoyas put forth a remarkably efficient offensive effort, connecting on 61.5 percent of their field goals. Senior forward Brandon Bowman scored 23 points and collected eight rebounds and sophomore forward Jeff Green tallied 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists to lead Georgetown to the dramatic win in front of a sellout crowd at MCI Center.

‘What a superb performance. They’re so deserving,’Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ‘If you get beat, you want to get beat by people who earn it, and they really earned it.’/p>

Georgetown went on to win five more games in a row, including an 85-82 double-overtime thriller at Notre Dame on Jan. 24 and a hard-fought 61-58 upset against then-No. 9 Pittsburgh on Feb. 5. The victory over the Panthers marked the first time that the Hoyas had beaten two top-10 teams in one season since 1995-96. Georgetown climbed to No. 15 in the Associated Press Poll ” its highest ranking of the season.

A 69-56 loss to West Virginia at MCI Center on Feb. 12 ended Georgetown’s winning streak at seven. The Hoyas were outscored 40-19 in the second half.

‘The way [the Mountaineers] play you, you have to make shots,’Thompson said to The Hoya. ‘You have to make shots against them because everything that goes inside, they have two or three guys running at you and force you to throw it out and see if you can make shots. And tonight, uncharacteristically we missed.’/p>

Consecutive losses on the road to Marquette and Villanova dropped Georgetown to No. 23 in the AP poll. The Hoyas rebounded with emphatic wins against Rutgers and Syracuse before suffering their worst loss of the year in the regular season finale on March 4 ” a 63-56 defeat to South Florida, a team that was 0-15 in Big East play entering the contest.

In the Big East Tournament, Georgetown survived against Notre Dame 67-63 and edged Marquette 62-59, before falling to eventual tournament champion Syracuse 58-57 in the semifinals.

Selection Sunday gave the Hoyas a No. 7 seed in the Minneapolis region and a first-round NCAA Tournament date with No. 10 seed Northern Iowa on March 17. Sophomore center Roy Hibbert scored a game-high 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds to help Georgetown prevail 54-49 against the pesky Panthers.

In the second round, Hibbert shined once again. His 20 points and 14 rebounds led the Hoyas to a 70-52 victory over second-seeded Ohio State and a berth in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001.

‘Was this [Hibbert’s] biggest game? Yes, without a doubt ” just because of timing,’Thompson said. ‘You work all year to get here. You work all year to put yourself in this position to win now.’/p>

Unfortunately for Georgetown, a Florida sophomore forward named Joakim Noah was also peaking at the right time. Noah propelled the third-seeded Gators to the regional final with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but it was sophomore forward Corey Brewer’s spectacular three-point play with 28 seconds left that sealed the 57-53 victory for Florida.

As the Gators went on to win the national championship without another close game, Hoya fans undoubtedly wondered what would have happened if the final minute of the Georgetown-Florida game had played out differently. Only one thing is certain ” Georgetown had earned a great deal of respect. After all, we beat Duke.