It was a season that opened amid the fanfare of a No. 20 national ranking and a fourth-place finish in the Big East coaches’ poll. But by the time the Hoyas limped off the court after an early exit in the NCAA tournament, the verdict on the 2010-2011 campaign was decidedly “disappointment.”
The winter and early spring were filled with ups and downs for the Blue and Gray — the thrill of two eight-game win streaks and the agony of five straight losses to end the season, punctuated by three painful routs at the hands of Cincinnati, Connecticut and Virginia Commonwealth; the excitement of victory over a tough Syracuse squad at the Carrier Dome; the devastation of seeing then-senior guard Chris Wright lying on the floor of Verizon Center with a broken hand. These were the extremes of Georgetown’s seventh season under Head Coach John Thompson III.
The season started with an away trip at Old Dominion Nov. 12. The gut-check 62-59 win set the tone for much of the nonconference season. The Hoyas went on to steamroll Tulane and easily cleared Coastal Carolina, Wofford and North Carolina State to win the Charleston Classic. A win over UNC-Asheville over Thanksgiving weekend set the stage for Georgetown to take on a No. 9 Missouri squad in Kansas City, Mo.
Georgetown 111, Missouri 102 (OT)
After going back and forth all night, the Hoyas trailed the Tigers, 93-89, with 26 seconds to go. After Wright nailed two free throws with 15 seconds left and Missouri made only one of a pair, Georgetown got the ball back. Then-sophomore forward Hollis Thompson missed his three-point attempt, but then-freshman forward Nate Lubick got a rebound and put the ball in the hands of then-junior guard Jason Clark, who found Wright for the equalizer as time expired. The Blue and Gray dominated in overtime, never letting the Tigers within four points and sealing an emphatic and thrilling road win.
Returning to the District, Georgetown dispatched Utah State. With that victory the Hoyas had won their first eight games of the season. Georgetown then headed north to Philadelphia to take on Temple but fell in the final seconds, 68-65. After the loss, the Blue and Gray rebounded to win three straight, including home victories against Appalachian State and Loyola and a 17-point road victory at Memphis.
But as 2010 turned into 2011, the wheels began to come off the bus. On Dec. 29 the Hoyas were routed, 69-55, by Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The Irish had a stellar defense, and despite then-senior guard Austin Freeman’s 21 points, then-senior guard Ben Hansbrough and the rest of the Irish were too much for the Blue and Gray. A win against perennial league laggard DePaul on New Year’s Day was unconvincing, and Georgetown went on to lose three in a row: a close decision at St. John’s, then two at home against West Virginia and Pittsburgh.
But amid the gloom and a slide in the rankings from No. 9 before the Notre Dame loss to No. 23, the Hoyas managed to conjure up another eight-game win streak — one that almost redeemed their season.
The streak began on a road trip to New Jersey, with Georgetown besting league foes Rutgers and Seton Hall. The Hoyas got a measure of revenge with a 77-52 win over St. John’s on a snowy night in D.C. before narrowly edging No. 8 Villanova in Philadelphia.
When they returned to the District, the Blue and Gray defeated No. 15 Louisville, 62-59, and outlasted a furious 43-point performance from Providence’s then-senior guard Marshon Brooks to win that contest, 83-81. With the turnaround from the New Year blues, Georgetown, ranked No. 11, was able to take a five-game streak to upstate New York and archrival No. 12 Syracuse.
Georgetown 64, Syracuse 56
In another game that was close from the get-go, the Hoyas and the Orange traded leads back and forth for much of the contest. Georgetown managed to outscore Syracuse, 15-3, in the final 6:40 of the game on the back of strong efforts from Freeman, who scored 14 points, and Wright, who had nine assists. Lubick’s critical dunk gave the Blue and Gray the lead and turned the momentum decidedly in the Hoyas’ favor. It was Georgetown’s first win in Syracuse since 2002.
Flush from victory over the Orange, the Hoyas eased past a solid Marquette squad, 69-60, and then saw their streak snapped when they were downed, 78-70, by Connecticut in Hartford, Conn. While the loss was disappointing, the Huskies were a solid team and few were concerned, especially after Georgetown travelled to Tampa, Fla., to defeat South Florida, 61-55. No one thought that it would be the last time the “D.C. Three” would win in their Georgetown uniforms.
Cincinnati 58, Georgetown 46
The chill that greeted the Hoyas on their return from Tampa wasn’t just in the air — it was on the hardwood at Verizon Center. Georgetown and Cincinnati played evenly, if poorly, through much of the first half. But it was the opening minutes of the second half that saw the effective end of Georgetown’s season when Wright broke his hand while scrambling for a loose ball. Without Wright to handle the ball, the Blue and Gray went more than 12 minutes without a field goal and simply could not get in sync. Cincinnati’s victory set up a senior night against Syracuse without one of the team’s most visible seniors — Wright — on the floor.
After waiting in line overnight, the Georgetown faithful expected to see improvement from the chaos of the final minutes of the Cincinnati loss and in truth, they saw a good basketball game. But then-freshman guard Markel Starks was simply not as skilled as Wright in managing the ball and Jim Boeheim’s Orange left Verizon Center with a 58-51 win.
Matters got even worse for the Blue and Gray in the final game of the regular season, a rematch at Cincinnati. This time the Bearcats manhandled the Hoyas even more ferociously, pulling off a 69-47 rout that left Georgetown limping into the Big East tournament, barely clutching one of the single byes awarded to the regular season’s eight best teams.
With Wright still unable to play, the Hoyas were in for an ugly showing at Madison Square Garden. The draw put them at an immediate disadvantage as they were paired with a surging Connecticut. Just as he had been in Hartford, then-junior guard Kemba Walker was too much for the Hoyas, and the Huskies prevailed easily, 79-62.
Still, Georgetown fans had some reason to remain optimistic, as Wright was able to return for the NCAA tournament. Despite a four-game losing streak and blowout defeats against Connecticut and Cincinnati, Georgetown nabbed a No. 6 seed playing in Chicago. And the opponent, Virginia Commonwealth, didn’t give anyone much pause.
VCU 74, Georgetown 56
A game that was supposed to be a return to form for the Hoyas quickly turned ugly during a first half in which they committed 14 turnovers and let the Rams hit nine three-pointers. Down 35-24 at the intermission, the Blue and Gray started the second half slowly and found themselves down by 18 before mounting a small surge, cutting the lead to 51-36. The sputtering offense simply couldn’t connect, though, and the Shaka Smart-directed Rams crushed the Blue and Gray, building up an insurmountable 63-38 lead. While Thompson and Starks worked to keep Georgetown in the game, there was simply no way to cut the lead, and Georgetown was left not only disappointed by the loss but devastated by another blowout.
That wasn’t the way it was supposed to end for the D.C. Three. But a season that began with high hopes ended the same way Georgetown seasons have ended for three years running now: with a tough defeat in the opening round of a postseason tournament.