Dan Gelfand/The Hoya Sophomore forward Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw remains flat-footed as his opponent goes up for a layup during Boston College’s 68-57 win over Georgetown.
NEW YORK – Georgetown’s season petered out on a wearisome note as the Hoyas’ 2003-04 life was ended by Boston College, 68-57, Wednesday in the first round of the Big East tournament.
Georgetown, finishing 13-15 overall and 4-13 in the Big East, did not receive a postseason invitation for the first time in 30 years, ending the longest such streak in Division I basketball.
The Hoyas’ loss put the finishing touch on a season that wound down with a dismal nine-game losing streak. Meanwhile, clamor from fans and alumni for a coaching change steadily increased despite being met by the administration’s steadfast loyalty to Craig Esherick. The administration reversed its position less than a week later and Esherick’s tenure as Georgetown’s head coach ended with the loss to Boston College.
And although the loss was hardly surprising for the team, the silent locker room after the game was still full of disappointment.
“There is no relief, because you want to win, you want to play the next day,” Cook said. “We were still looking forward to the NCAA tournament.”
It was another game where Georgetown managed to hang close but never made a run large enough to deliver a serious blow. During a year in which Georgetown virtually never got the job done when it needed to, that manner of losing became mundane.
“We had some close games, and it was a matter of just getting over that hump,” sophomore point guard Cook said. “We never executed.”
The Hoyas were within five points with about a minute to go, but a combination of missed three-pointers by Georgetown and made free throws by Boston College prevented a Hoya comeback.
Boston College (23-9, 11-6 Big East), the No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament in the St. Louis region, had the inside advantage with forwards senior Uka Agbai and sophomore All-Big East Craig Smith from the outset. But things shifted even more in the Eagles’ favor when Georgetown starting center senior Courtland Freeman left the game with an injury at the beginning of the second half.
In one of the game’s more cheerless moments, Freeman, the three-year captain playing in what would be his last game at Georgetown, went down after landing on Smith’s foot while going for a rebound. The X-ray on his left ankle came back negative, but the sprain kept him from returning.
“It would be me, though. I’ve been hurt most of my career,” Freeman said. “That’s life, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Georgetown’s reserves were already warmed up, as Esherick had been using a somewhat different rotation since early in the game. Freshman forward Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw played 30 minutes (as many as leading scorer senior guard Gerald Riley) and freshman forward Sead Dizdarevic, who has not played in nine of the Hoyas’ last 11 games, got four minutes in the first half.
“[The rotation] was by design, because I was stupid enough to think that we may be around here for a while,” Esherick said. “I wanted to make certain that I didn’t wear anybody out to play a second game.”
The bench did provide one of the game’s highlights for Georgetown – the play of freshman point guard Matt Causey. He finished with 12 points, five assists and three rebounds. Esherick noted that Causey’s July knee surgery prevented him from starting the season at full speed, and only lately has he begun to near his potential.
“I feel like I’m starting to get my quickness back,” Causey said. “I can just build off of this next year and just work hard in the off-season.”
Sophomore forward Brandon Bowman led the Hoyas with 14 points, while Cook scored 13. Riley had three fouls in the first half and finished with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
It was the last game for Riley, Freeman and senior guard Omari Faulkner. Senior Ramell Ross, who sat out the season with a shoulder injury, will return to use his final year of eligibility.
“All three of those kids were a pleasure to coach, and I’m proud to say that I coached all three of them,” Esherick said.
Madison Square Garden was the site of one of the Hoyas’ lowest points of the 2003-04 season, when they lost to a St. John’s team of five scholarship players and four walk-ons – the worst team in the Big East.
Georgetown, which currently leads the conference with six Big East Championships, had never lost in the first round of the tournament.
