The 2008–09 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University in the 2008–2009 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Hoyas were coached by John Thompson III and played their home games at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. The Hoyas were members of the original Big East Conference. They finished the season 16–15, 7–11 in Big East play. They lost to St. John's in the first round of the 2009 Big East men's basketball tournament. They received an at-large bid to the 2009 National Invitation Tournament, earning a 6 seed in one of the NITs regions, and lost to Baylor in the first round.
Season recap
Regular season
Coming off a 2007–08 season which saw a second consecutive Big East Conference regular-season championship, a second straight appearance in the Big East tournament final, a third straight NCAA tournament appearance, and a postseason No. 12 national ranking for Georgetown, the Hoyas were expected to have another impressive season even though only one scholarship senior, Jessie Sapp, returned for 2008–09. Although four-year starter and point guard Jonathan Wallace had graduated in 2008, sophomore guard Chris Wright, recovered from a broken foot that caused him to miss much of the 2007–08 campaign, was expected to fill in ably as his successor, and the Hoyas placed great confidence in freshman center Greg Monroe as the next "big man" who could replace center Roy Hibbert, who also had graduated in 2008. Although guard Jeremiah Rivers had transferred to Indiana during the offseason, sophomore guard Austin Freeman returned after a very promising first year. At forward, Patrick Ewing Jr., had departed through graduation, but junior DaJuan Summers returned and, although forward Vernon Macklin had transferred to Florida after the previous season in search of greater playing time, sophomore forward Julian Vaughn joined the Hoyas after playing for a season at Florida State. Freshman center Henry Sims also joined the team to come off the bench behind Monroe. The Hoyas entered the season with a No. 22 ranking in the preseason Associated Press Poll.
Non-conference schedule
The season began well enough with Georgetown displaying a strong defense in wins over JacksonvilleAnonymous, "Freshman Monroe scores 14, makes difference on defense against Jacksonville," Associated Press, November 17, 2008. and Drexel and Monroe showing his expected defensive prowess and making the first Georgetown score, rebound, and blocked shot of the year. He scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked three shots against Jacksonville and contributed 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals, and three blocked shots against Drexel, a game in which he shot 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) from the field.Anonymous, "Georgetown gets 20 from freshman Monroe in win over Drexel," Associated Press, November 23, 2008. Chris Wright had 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists against Jacksonville and 11 points, seven assists, and five rebounds in the Drexel game, while Summers and Sapp each scored 13 points against Jacksonville. Summers finished with 10 against Drexel.Box Score – Drexel vs. Georgetown – Box Score – November 22, 2008 – ESPN
Moving up to No. 21 in the AP Poll, the Hoyas next traveled to Lake Buena Vista, Florida, to play in the Old Spice Classic. They met Wichita State in the first round in a game in which the Shockers outrebounded the Hoyas 17–6 but shot only 27.9 percent from the field, and Georgetown went 8-for-8 in free throws in the final minute to preserve a 58–50 victory, with Austin Freeman scoring a game-high 18 points, DaJuan Summers 14, and Greg Monroe 11.Anonymous, "Freeman leads Hoyas to victory, second-round meeting vs. Tennessee," Associated Press, November 27, 2008. In the semi-final the following day, the Hoyas faced No. 12 Tennessee, their first ranked opponent of the season. Four Hoyas – Chris Wright with 18 points, DaJuan Summers with 17, Greg Monroe with 15, and Austin Freeman with 12 – scored in double figures as Georgetown shot 53 percent from the field. But Georgetown also committed 20 turnovers, including 10 in the first 15 minutes, and had an uncharacteristically porous defense, allowing the Volunteers also to shoot 53 percent from the field, and Tennessee had a 39–37 advantage at halftime. Early in the second half, the Hoyas went on a 23–10 run to pull ahead, 65–57, but the Volunteers then responded with a 10–1 run of their own to take a 67–66 lead, followed by an 8–3 run to give Tennessee a 75–69 advantage. With some starters in early foul trouble on both sides, both teams′ benches saw significant playing time, and that worked to Tennessee's advantage, with the Volunteers′ bench outscoring the Hoyas′ bench 37–12. Tennessee handed the Hoyas their first defeat, 90–78.Anonymous, "Smith scores 21 as No. 12 Tennessee beats Georgetown," Associated Press, November 28, 2008.Box Score, Tennessee vs. Georgetown, November 28, 2008. Georgetown thus met Maryland two days later in the fifth-place game, only the third meeting between the cross-town rivals since 1980, the first since the 2001 NCAA tournament, and the first during the regular season since 1993. Freeman scored 18 points, Summers contributed 14, Monroe had 12, and Jessie Sapp scored 10 as the Hoyas made 10 of their first 14 shots, shot 53.1 percent from the field, and held the Terrapins to 36.1 percent shooting. Georgetown led by as many as 21 points in the first half, by 38–20 at halftime, by 61–33 with 13 minutes left in the second half, and by 73–38 with 7½ minutes to play on the way to an easy 75–48 victory to secure fifth place.Anonymous, "No. 16 Georgetown leads by as many as 38 in destruction of Maryland," Associated Press, November 30, 2008.
With a record of 4–1 and ranked No. 20, the Hoyas returned to the Verizon Center for a five-game homestand. In the first two, they easily defeated American and Savannah State, the latter coached by former Georgetown player Horace Broadnax. Chris Wright scored a career-high 22 points and DaJuan Summers and Jessie Sapp had 14 points each against American in a game in which American scored only 12 points in the first half, the lowest score by a Georgetown opponent in the first half since John Thompson III took over as the Hoyas′ head coach in 2004.Anonymous, "Even with Hoyas' rout, 'JT3' finds things to work on," Associated Press, December 6, 2008. In the Savannah State game two days later, Georgetown, by then ranked No. 19, scored 100 points for the second time in John Thompson III's tenure and had a 62-point margin of victory that was its biggest since a 112–39 defeat of the University of the District of Columbia on December 16, 1989. Freeman, Sapp, and Summers had 14 points each, Monroe had 13, and freshman guard Jason Clark came off the bench to score 10 against Savannah State.Anonymous, "Georgetown blows out Savannah St. by biggest margin in nearly 19 years," Associated Press, December 8, 2008.
In the third game of the homestand, Georgetown faced No. 17 Memphis. Summers led the team with 21 points, Austin Freeman scored 18, Chris Wright added 14 points and played an excellent defensive game against Tigers point guard Tyreke Evans, and Greg Monroe had 13 points and six rebounds. It was a tight game, with Memphis leading 38–37 at the half, and for six of the last 6½ minutes of the second half neither team led by more than one point, Freeman finally putting the Hoyas ahead 66–64 with a free throw with 31 seconds left in regulation. The Tigers scored to tie the game at 66–66 and force overtime, but thereafter shot 1-for-9 from the field while the Hoyas outscored Memphis 13–4 during overtime for a 79–70 upset victory. Although Memphis outrebounded Georgetown 53–36, the Tigers shot only 35 percent from the field. The win stretched Georgetown's home winning streak to 26 games,Anonymous, "Georgetown wins after holding Memphis to 1-for-9 shooting in OT," Associated Press, December 13, 2008. which the Hoyas then extended to 28 straight as the homestand concluded with victories over Mount St. Mary's – the first meeting of the schools since January 1962, with Chris Wright scoring a game-high 19 points, DaJuan Summers adding 13, and Jessie Sapp grabbing a career-high nine reboundsAnonymous, "Hoyas' second-half surge overwhelms Mount St. Mary's," Associated Press, December 20, 2008. – and Florida International. In the Florida International game, the first game between the schools since December 1989,Anonymous, "Hoyas hold Golden Panthers to fewest points in school history," Associated Press, December 24, 2008. the Hoyas held the Golden Panthers to a total of 38 points, the lowest scoring total in Florida International's history. On the Georgetown side, Austin Freeman scored 17 points, Chris Wright had 14, and DaJuan Summers added 13, while Greg Monroe had 10 points, six rebounds, and five steals.
Conference schedule
Ranked No. 11, with a record of 9–1 and the winners of six straight games, the Hoyas closed out 2008 by opening their Big East Conference schedule with a visit to No. 2 Connecticut, which had won seven straight games against ranked opponents. Georgetown began the game with an 18–3 run against the veteran Huskies, and led 36–27 at halftime. Thirteen seconds into the second half, Greg Monroe hit a three-pointer to stretch the lead to 39–27, but Connecticut then went on a 13–1 run to close to a 40–37 deficit. With Georgetown clinging to a 42–39 lead with 13:19 left to play, Austin Freeman sparked Georgetown's offense, scoring seven of the first nine points of a 14–6 Georgetown run that gave the Hoyas a 56–45 advantage with 9:46 remaining. Connecticut never got closer than nine points the rest of the way, and Georgetown led by as many as 17 points in pulling off a 74–63 upset victory. In the second half, the Hoyas made 18 straight free throws and finished 18-for-21 (85.7 percent) from the free-throw line. DaJuan Summers had 18 points, Chris Wright and Greg Monroe scored 16 points each, and Freeman added 13. It was Georgetown's eighth straight win in a Big East season opener, five of them under John Thompson III. The Hoyas′ winning streak grew to seven, and their record improved to 10–1.Anonymous, "Georgetown opens Big East play with an upset of UConn," Associated Press, December 30, 2008.Box Score, Georgetown vs. Connecticut, December 29, 2008.Play-by-Play, Georgetown vs. Connecticut, December 29, 2008.
At the time Georgetown upset Connecticut, the Big East boasted seven ranked teams, and the relatively young and inexperienced Hoyas faced a challenging conference schedule as a result. Connecticut was the first of three ranked teams the Hoyas faced to open their conference schedule, leading John Thompson III to note in a postgame interview, "The commissioner isn't handing out trophies tonight and it doesn't get easier." With that in mind, the Hoyas began 2009 by hosting No. 3 Pittsburgh in their next game. Although DaJuan Summers scored 22 points and Greg Monroe added 15, the undefeated Panthers used their depth to dominate Georgetown, outrebounding the Hoyas 46–21 and outscoring them from the paint 48–22, while Pittsburgh's bench outscored Georgetown's 14–2. Leading 33–30 at halftime, the Panthers shot 53 percent from the field in the second half and pulled out to a 55–44 lead with 7:47 left in the game. Pittsburgh sophomore forward DeJuan Blair had a double-double (20 points and 17 rebounds), and Pittsburgh won 70–54. The loss ended Georgetown's 29-game home winning streak.Anonymous, "Blair's double-double sends Pitt past Georgetown," Associated Press, January 3, 2009.