The 2004-05 Georgetown men’s basketball team showed immense improvement and even flashes of greatness, but an untimely collapse late in the season doomed any hopes of a NCAA tournament run.

The season opened ominously for Georgetown as the Hoyas were unable to deliver John Thompson III a victory in his first game as head coach, being soundly beaten at home by Temple, 75-57.

But Georgetown quickly rebounded after the season-opening loss. After Thompson recorded his first win in his team’s second game against the Citadel on Nov. 26, the Hoyas went on to win seven of their next nine contests, giving Georgetown an 8-3 record entering Big East conference play.

“Winning is good,” Thompson said after his first victory as Hoyas head coach. “It feels good . and I think the guys like the feeling.”

The Hoyas continued to perform at a high level against Big East foes, particularly away from home. Georgetown opened conference play by defeating perennial Big East power Pittsburgh on the road, 67-64; less than two weeks later, the visiting Hoyas prevailed over Villanova, 66-64.

Looking to notch another conference win, Georgetown traveled to upstate New York to take on then-No. 7 Syracuse on Jan. 18. The Orange entered the game first in the Big East standings and riding a 10-game win streak, but the Hoyas gave them a run they didn’t expect.

Foul trouble plagued the Hoyas throughout the game, and it limited the effectiveness of Georgetown’s top three scorers, Brandon Bowman, Jeff Green and Ashanti Cook.

With under 30 seconds remaining and Green on the bench after fouling out late in regulation, the Hoyas trailed by two. Georgetown was able to force overtime, however, when Bowman’s jumper from the top of the key with 2.3 seconds remaining tied the game at 67.

Georgetown’s good fortune did not carry over into overtime as Syracuse’s Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick helped the Orange build a seven-point lead early in the extra frame from which the Hoyas were unable to recover. The result was a disappointing five-point loss at the hands of one of the top teams in the country.

Despite forcing overtime against the best team in the Big East, Coach Thompson was not satisfied with merely a moral victory. “We’re not going home the way we wanted to,” he said. “I wish we had won.”

Georgetown recovered in a dramatic win over Notre Dame less than a week later. After a three-pointer gave the Fighting Irish a one-point lead with five seconds remaining, Cook dribbled the length of the floor and found Roy Hibbert open under the basket. Hibbert’s two-handed dunk as time expired lifted Georgetown to a 55-54 victory.

“We tell the guys to just get it and go,” Thompson said of Cook’s scramble up court in the closing seconds. “I don’t think [Hibbert] has ever moved that fast in his life.”

After the thrilling win, the Hoyas won four of their next five games against Big East opponents. The hot streak brought Georgetown’s record to an impressive 16-6 overall and an 8-3 mark in the conference. Entering the final five games of the regular season, the Hoyas were prepared to play their way into an at-large NCAA tournament bid.

Then, the wheels suddenly fell off. Instead of playing their way into March Madness, the Hoyas played their way out of it, losing the final five games of the regular season. Ending the regular season at 16-11 overall and 8-8 in the Big East, the Hoyas desperately needed a stellar Big East tournament performance to vault them into the NCAA tournament.

Unfortunately for Georgetown fans, the Hoyas could not deliver in the Big East tournament.

In their opening round match-up with Seton Hall, the Hoyas found themselves trailing by 11 with 8:32 remaining. Georgetown was able to rally in the closing minutes, outscoring the Pirates 23-7 to pull out the 56-51 victory.

In order to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive, the Hoyas would need a win over 12th-ranked Connecticut in the second round of the Big East tournament. Trailing by two with under a minute remaining, Cook’s game-tying shot came up short and the Huskies advanced, 66-62. The early exit dashed any hopes of a NCAA bid for Georgetown.

In the first round of the NIT, the Hoyas dominated Boston University, 64-34. After the convincing victory, Georgetown defeated Cal State Fullerton in front of a charged home crowd at cDonough Arena, 74-57, advancing the Hoyas to the NIT quarterfinals. This was as far as the 2004-05 season would go, however, as Georgetown fell to South Carolina on the road, 69-66.

Despite the disappointing culmination of the 2004-05 season, the campaign was a step in the right direction for the Georgetown men’s basketball program. In his first season as head coach, John Thompson III showed Hoya fans that a return to greatness is not as far off as it may have seemed after the 2003-04 season. What remains to be seen is if this year’s team can take the next step and return to the NCAA tournament.