2009–10 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University in the 2009–2010 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Hoyas were coached by John Thompson III and played their home games at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas were members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 23–11, 10–8 in Big East play. They advanced to the championship game of the 2010 Big East men's basketball tournament before losing to West Virginia. They received an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a 3 seed in the Midwest Region, where they were upset by 14 seed Ohio in the first round.

Season recap

Regular season

The Hoyas′ previous season had been a disappointing one in which the relatively young and experienced Georgetown team had fallen from a Top Ten ranking in early January 2009 to a 16–15 finish in March that ended with the loss of 12 out of 16 games and first-round exits from both the 2009 Big East tournament and the 2009 National Invitation Tournament. The Hoyas had lost starting forward DaJuan Summers after the end of the season when he chose to forego his senior year of college and enter the 2009 National Basketball Association draft, as well as starting guard Jessie Sapp, who graduated, and reserve guard/forward Omar Wattad, who transferred. But with freshman forwards Jerrelle Benimon and Hollis Thompson joining the team and sophomore starting center Greg Monroe, junior reserve center Henry Sims, junior starting guards Austin Freeman and Chris Wright, junior reserve forward Julian Vaughn, and sophomore reserve forward Jason Clark all returning, the Hoyas expected to bounce back in 2009–10. The preseason Associated Press Poll ranked them No. 20.

Non-conference schedule The season began with six straight wins over unranked opponents. Greg Monroe had a double-double (18 points and 11 rebounds) in the season opener at TulaneAnonymous, "Monroe dumps in 18, grabs 11 boards in successful Louisiana return," Associated Press, November 14, 2009. and 11 points and nine rebounds in the low-scoring home opener against Temple, which saw Georgetown blow a 12-point lead in the second half before eking out a victory that broke Temple's streak of 68 straight wins when holding opponents to under 50 points.Anonymous, "Hoyas blow 12-point second-half lead but hold off Owls," Associated Press, November 17, 2009. Against Savannah State, a team coached by former Georgetown player Horace Broadnax, Monroe had 13 points.Anonymous, "Four Hoyas in double figures in dominating win," Associated Press, November 21, 2009. Austin Freeman scored 16 points at Tulane and 12 points at Savannah State, while Chris Wright scored 11 points each at Tulane and at Savannah State and 15 against Temple. Jason Clark came off the bench to score 13 points at Tulane and a game-high and career-high 14 at Savannah State, a game in which he connected on four three-pointers.

Clark started a week later in the first game of a three-game homestand, a rout of Lafayette – the first game between the schools since December 1979 – and had another game and career high, scoring 19 points, while Hollis Thompson had 16 points, Chris Wright finished with 14, Greg Monroe had 13 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, Austin Freeman added 12 points, and Julian Vaughn finished with 11 points in the first game since John Thompson III became head coach in 2004 in which six Hoyas scored in double figures.Anonymous, "Georgetown's Clark, Thompson pace rout of Lafayette," Associated Press, November 28, 2009. Against Mount St. Mary's at the end of November, Greg Monroe had a double-double with a season-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, Chris Wright and Julian Vaughn had career highs in scoring – Wright with 18 points and Vaughn with 14 – and Jason Clark started again and added 12.Anonymous, "Monroe, Wright help Georgetown remain undefeated, beat Mount St. Mary's," Associated Press, November 30, 2009. In an easy win over American five days later, the Hoyas limited the Eagles to 27-percent shooting from the field and Chris Wright and Henry Sims each scored 12 points – the first time Sims scored in double figures in his college career – and Julian Vaughn contributed 11 points, while Greg Monroe had nine points, a career-high 13 rebounds, and four blocked shots.Anonymous, "Georgetown limits American to 27 percent shooting in rout," Associated Press, December 5, 2009.

As the winning streak continued, the Hoyas rose in the national rankings, to No. 19 in the AP Poll by the time of the Temple game, to No. 18 when they met Lafayette, to No. 16 in time for the game against Mount St. Mary's, and to No. 15 after beating American. They then traveled to Madison Square Garden to make Georgetown's first appearance in the Jimmy V Classic and face their first ranked opponent of the season, No. 22 Butler. Greg Monroe played an outstanding defensive game that contributed to Butler junior forward Matt Howard shooting only 1-for-9 from the field and scoring only nine points. Monroe also shot 9-for-20 (45 percent) from the field and had his third double-double of the season, with career highs in both points (24) and rebounds (15), while Austin Freeman went 4-for-5 in three-point attempts and scored 18 points. The Hoyas led 39–31 at halftime and stretched their lead to 52–35 after Freeman scored on two three-point shots and Hollis Thompson hit a third three-pointer with 13:35 to play. The Bulldogs scored the next seven points to close to 52–42 as the Hoyas failed to score during a 4:13 stretch, finally broken by a monster Monroe dunk that made it 54–42. Butler then scored five more unanswered points to close to 54–47 with 8:37 remaining, and the Bulldogs were behind only 68–62 in the final minute before Georgetown prevailed in an 82–65 win. Georgetown outrebounded Butler 43–30 and outscored the Bulldogs 30–16 inside, and the loss was Butler's third in a row against ranked teams and eighth in its last nine games against the Top 25 – but the Bulldogs were destined to advance to the National Championship Game in the 2010 NCAA tournament four months later.Anonymous, "Monroe, Georgetown top Butler in Jimmy V Classic," Associated Press, December 9, 2009.

Georgetown next went to Anaheim, California, to make its only appearance in the John R. Wooden Classic and face its second ranked opponent in a row, No. 17 Washington, led by sophomore forward Isaiah Thomas, in the first meeting of the schools. The game was tight through the first half, with the Hoyas clinging to a 30–29 lead at halftime. However, Georgetown scored the first 12 points of the second half before Thomas made a layup with 15:56 remaining in the game for Washington's first points since halftime, and the Hoyas then went on a 9–0 run to stretch their lead to 51–31 with less than 14 minutes remaining. Georgetown still led 60–40 with 6½ minutes to play, but the Huskies took advantage of a 23-point performance by senior forward Quincy Pondexter and 21 points – 15 of them in the second half – by Thomas to stage a late comeback try that included a 15–3 run. Washington closed to 69–63 with 27 seconds remaining, but Chris Wright and Hollis Thompson hit key free throws that ensured the Hoyas a 74–66 victory that stretched their season-opening winning streak to eight. Julian Vaughn – the only Georgetown starter averaging fewer than 12 points per game – scored a career-high 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field, Greg Monroe added 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and the Hoyas forced the Huskies to commit 25 turnovers.Anonymous, "Hoyas pull away from Huskies, roll by another ranked team," Associated Press, December 12, 2009.

Ranked No. 11, Georgetown returned to Washington, D.C., to play its last two non-conference games of the season, meeting Old Dominion and Harvard. Three years earlier, Old Dominion had upset the Hoyas to become the first team to beat Georgetown in a game at McDonough Gymnasium since 1982, and in a return to McDonough on December 19 – the season's only game there, played on a day when Georgetown University was closed due to a snowstorm – the Monarchs took advantage of a slow start by the Hoyas to again upset Georgetown, dealing the Hoyas their first setback of the season and remaining the only team to defeat Georgetown at McDonough over the course of nearly 28 years. Greg Monroe had a game-high 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Austin Freeman and Julian Vaughn each contributed 13 points, with Freeman pulling down six rebounds and Vaughn grabbing seven.Anonymous, "No. 11 Hoyas fail to overcome slow start in loss to ODU," Associated Press, December 20, 2009.Box Score, Old Dominion vs. Georgetown, December 19, 2009. Falling to No. 14 in the AP Poll after the loss, Georgetown had an easier time in a victory over Harvard at the Verizon Center four days later in which Chris Wright scored a career-high 34 points, Austin Freeman scored 21, and Greg Monroe had a double-double with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.Anonymous, "Wright scores career-high 34 to lead No. 13 Georgetown," Associated Press, December 23, 2009.Box Score, Harvard vs. Georgetown, December 23, 2009.

Meanwhile, reserve forward Nikita Mescheriakov, averaging only five minutes per game, announced on December 22 that he would leave Georgetown at the end of the semester in search of greater playing time;Clarke, Liz, "Forward Nikita Mescheriakov to transfer from Georgetown," washingtonpost.com, December 23, 2009. he transferred to Wake Forest in January.Anonymous, "Wake Forest Adds Georgetown Transfer Nikita Mescheriakov," wakeforestsports.com, January 11, 2010. Mescheriakov became the ninth player in five years to leave Georgetown before the end of his college eligibility: Jeff Green and DaJuan Summers both had left school after their junior year to enter the National Basketball Association draft, and Omar Wattad, Vernon Macklin, Jeremiah Rivers, Octavius Spann, Marc Egerson, and Josh Thornton all had transferred. Mescheriakov's departure left the Hoyas with only 11 players on their roster, two of them walk-ons.

Conference schedule

Climbing to No. 13 in the AP Poll with a record of 9–1, the Hoyas opened their Big East Conference schedule on New Year's Eve 2009 by hosting St. John's, followed by visits in the new year of 2010 to DePaul and Marquette. The Hoyas pulled ahead of St. John's in the first half before the Red Storm took a narrow lead halfway through the second half, but the Hoyas ultimately prevailed with a balanced scoring attack that saw Chris Wright score 21 points and Austin Freeman and Greg Monroe contribute 15 each.Anonymous, "Hoyas use balanced scoring attack to hold off Red Storm," Associated Press, January 1, 2010. Another win followed against DePaul, the Hoyas′ ninth victory in a row against the Blue Demons and DePaul's 21st straight loss in a Big East Conference game, with Georgetown shooting 57 percent from the field and four Hoyas – Chris Wright with 18 points, Austin Freeman with 17, Jason Clark with 13, and Greg Monroe with 10 – scoring in double figures.Anonymous, "Hoyas hold DePaul to 25 points in each half," Associated Press, January 3, 2010.Box Score, Georgetown vs. DePaul, January 3, 2010. Marquette, however, upset the by-then-No. 12 Hoyas on January 6, dealing them their first conference defeat of the season in a close game in which Austin Freeman scored 20 points, Julian Vaughn had 12, and Greg Monroe scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a losing cause.Anonymous, "Butler's free throws help Marquette win close call over Georgetown," Associated Press, January 7, 2010.