2021–22 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

NOTE: Chudier Bile, Jahvon Blair, and Jamorko Pickett all declared for the 2021 NBA draft after a four-year college career, opting not take advantage of the special fifth year of eligibility the NCAA granted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With all tickets free to anyone who requested one, the Hoyas drew 8,641 fans — including former Georgetown and NBA great Dikembe Mutombo, who saw his son make Ryan make his collegiate debut — to their opener against Dartmouth on November 13, the first game of a three-game homestand at Capital One Arena. Kobe Clark, Collin Holloway, and Timothy Ighoefe all sat out the game with injuries — Ighoefe due to a possible concussion he had suffered in practice — and center Malcolm Wilson made the first start of his college career and only his 13th appearance in a college game.[23] Dartmouth guard Brendan Barry had a connection to Georgetown — his grandfather Jim Barry had been a standout forward on the Hoya teams of 1962–1963, 1964–1965, and 1965–1966 — but it was only the third meeting of the teams, the first since December 1974, and the first in Washington.[43] Dartmouth had not had a winning season since 1998–1999 or an NCAA Tournament bid since 1959, had not fielded a team during the 2020–2021 season due to the covid-19 pandemic, was expected to finish near the bottom of the Ivy League in 2021–2022, and had lost its season opener by 16 points to a Boston College team expected to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and Georgetown was a 16+1⁄2-point favorite.[23][43] However, Dartmouth found great success in penetrating the Hoya defense and then passing the ball out for open three-point shots, and made 16 of 38 three-pointers (42 percent) during the game.[23] The Big Green went on an 18–2 run in the first half to take a 28–10 lead, and although the Hoyas scored seven straight points late in the first half, the Big Green led 37–21 at halftime.[23] The Hoyas started the second half with a 14–0 run to close to 37–35,[23][44] but Dartmouth then went on an 11-5 run of its own to pull out to a 48–40 lead.[44] The Hoyas mounted another comeback, scoring the next 10 points, and took their only lead of the game at 50–48 with 10:56 left to play,[23][44] but they held it for only 16 seconds as Dartmouth responded with a decisive 18–3 run and won 69–60 in a shocking upset.[23] Georgetown's all-time record against Dartmouth fell to 1–2.[43] Aminu Mohammed led the Hoyas with 17 points and Donald Carey scored 14.[45]

Three days later, Georgetown had a much better game against American — a team which had played only 10 games in 2020–2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic — and broke open a four-point game in the second half with a 24–2 run on the way to a 79–57 victory, the Hoyas' 11th straight win over the Eagles.[46] Aminu Mohammed had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Dante Harris scored 13, Donald Carey added 12, and Timothy Ighoefe returned to action, scoring six points and grabbing 11 rebounds.[46][47] The Hoyas improved their record to 2–1 on November 19 with an 18-point victory over winless Siena — a team which entering the game ranked 339th in Division I in scoring offense and tied for 320th in scoring defense — in which Kaiden Rice snapped out of his season-opening slump, shooting 7-for-10 from three-point range and scoring 23 points, while Carey added 20, Harris scored 14, and Mohammed finished with 11.[48]

Georgetown had planned to play in the 2020 Wooden Legacy tournament the previous season, but it was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic.[49][50][51] Instead, the Hoyas played in the 2021 edition of the Wooden Legacy, going on the road for the first time in the 2021–2022 season to play in the tournament at Anaheim Arena in Anaheim, California. An eight-team tournament from 2013 through 2019, the Wooden Legacy debuted a new four-team format in 2021, and Georgetown faced San Diego State in the semifinals on Thanksgiving night. The Hoyas had met the Aztecs only once before, in December 1981. Entering the game, the Aztecs were ranked only 342nd in Division I in three-point shooting at 24.6 percent while Georgetown was ranked 21st, making 41.5 percent of its three-pointers.[52] During the game, however, San Diego State shot 7-of-16 from beyond the arc (43.8 percent) while Georgetown made only four out of 20 (20 percent) three-point shots.[52] The Aztecs dunked five times on the Hoyas and built a 54–39 lead before the Hoyas closed to four points behind at 57–53 with 9+1⁄2 minutes left to play, but from there San Diego State outscored Georgetown 16–3 and won 73–56.[52] Missing their last 10 shots, the Hoyas shot only 35.1 percent for the game and had only six assists.[52] Aminu Mohammed and Dante Harris between them scored Georgetown's first 19 points and were the only Hoyas to finish in double figures, Mohammed with 20 points and Harris with 19.[53] Donald Carey, Georgetown's leading scorer entering the game at 15.3 points per game,[52] managed only four points, all on free throws,[53] while Kaiden Rice shot 2-for-7 (28.5 percent) from three-point range and finished with eight points.[52][53] It was the Aztecs' sixth straight win against the Big East, the longest active streak in the United States,[52] and it evened the all-time record between the schools at 1–1.[52]

The next day, San Diego State met USC in the tournament championship, while Georgetown was a 7+1⁄2-point favorite against Saint Joseph's, a 2–3 team, in the third-place game. Although the Hoyas and Hawks had played annually from the 1961–1962 through 1979–1980 seasons, it was the first meeting of the teams since then. Saint Joseph's led 15–14 with 11 minutes left in the first half, but after the Hoyas scored to take a 16–15 lead, the Hawks went on a 12-0 run and pulled ahead 27–16.[54] Although Georgetown switched to an aggressive and effective full-court press and cut the lead to eight, the Hoyas shot only 30 percent from the field in the first half and at halftime Saint Joseph's led 36–26.[54] After halftime, a 7–0 Hoya run helped Georgetown close the gap, and the Hoyas eventually took a 54–53 lead.[54] Saint Joseph's responded with a 7–0 run of its own, and Georgetown again came back to close to 66–64. In the final seconds, Donald Carey lost the ball on a bad pass attempt with the Hawks leading 74–72, and Collin Holloway's last-second three-point attempt was blocked from behind, giving Saint Joseph's a 77–74 win.[54] Saint Joseph's senior forward Taylor Funk had an outstanding performance, scoring a game-high 29 points on 9-for-11 (82 percent) shooting, including 8-for-10 from three-point range, and grabbing seven rebounds.[55] Kaiden Rice led the Hoyas with 25 points, while Dante Harris scored 17, Donald Carey finished with 12, and Timothy Ighoefe grabbed 14 rebounds and added four points.[56] The Hawks' victory tied the all-time series between the schools at 17–17[54] and dropped the Hoyas to 2–3 on the season. They returned to Washington ranked 230th in Division I in perimeter defense, allowing opponents to shoot 34.3 percent from three-point range.[57]

Georgetown next met Longwood before a sparse crowd at Capital One Arena.[57] Longwood had never beaten a major-conference team[57] but scored the first nine points of the game on three three-pointers and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc during the first half.[57] The Hoyas did not take their first lead until pulling ahead 28–27 with 3:56 left in the first half, then pulled away with a 12–4 run to end the half. Although Georgetown led for the rest of the game, the Lancers, who shot 37.5 percent from three-point range for the game, twice cut the deficit to one point. Georgetown still led by only three points with under three minutes to play,[57] but then pulled ahead 81–75,[57] and Longwood never got closer than four points the rest of the way.[57] The Hoyas evened their record at 3–3 with a 91–83 victory.[57] Sophomore Collin Holloway, who scored a total of 15 points during his freshman year, came off the bench to lead the Hoyas with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, while Aminu Mohammed had a double double (15 points and 11 rebounds), Kaiden Rice finished with 15 points on five three-pointers, Dante Harris added 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and Donald Carey scored 12 points.[57][58] Timothy Ighoefe left the game in the first half with what turned out to be a broken hand; he did not return to the game[57] and had surgery on December 2, and on December 3 Ewing announced that he would be out of action for four to six weeks.[59]

Georgetown went back on the road to meet South Carolina on December 5 in the first year of a two-year home-and-home series against the Gamecocks.[60] Tracy McGrady, who had played and coached with Ewing in the NBA, South Carolina and NBA great Alex English, and Dikembe Mutombo all attended the game.[61] Both teams shot poorly from the field at first — the Hoyas missed their first nine shots and 20 of their first 23, while South Carolina went 6-for-22 to start the game — but the Gamecocks mounted a balanced offense and the Hoyas trailed for the entire game, shooting only 9-for-41 (22 percent) from the field in the first half, and falling behind 21–9.[62][63] Georgetown used a 14–4 run to close to 25–23, but South Carolina finished the half with an 11–4 spurt of its own, and Georgetown went into the locker room at halftime behind 36–27.[62][63] The Hoyas spent most of the second half trailing by about eight points,[61] fell as many as 15 points behind, and never got closer than six points,[62][63] and South Carolina used a late 13–4 run[61] to clinch an 80–67 victory.[61][62][63] Donald Carey — who connected on four of eight three-point attempts, the only Hoya to make more than one three-pointer[61] — scored 20 points, Aminu Mohammed 17, and Dante Harris 13,[62][64] but Kaiden Rice missed all ten shots he took during the game, eight of them from three-point range.[61][63] Georgetown dropped below .500 for the season again[62][63] and headed back to Washington to close out non-conference play with a four-game homestand at Capital One Arena.

The homestand began with a blowout win over UMBC in which Georgetown scored 100 points for the first time since December 2018 — and fourth time in Ewing's tenure as head coach — and improved its all-time record against the Retrievers to 5–0.[65] Kaiden Rice bounced back from his ineffective outing against South Carolina three days earlier with an historic game, leading the Hoyas with a career-high 34 points[65] — the first Hoya to score 30 or more points in a game since Mac McClung in December 2018[65] — on 11-for-14 shooting from the field, and his 10 three-pointers (on 12 attempts)[65][66][67] — including four in less than five minutes in the second half — broke the previous school record of seven in a single game, set by Mark Tillmon in 1990 and matched several times since.[65] With his father Dikembe again looking on, Ryan Mutombo had his first collegiate double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs,[65][66][67] while Aminu Mohammed finished with the third double double (13 points and 10 rebounds) of his collegiate career.[65][66][67] Dante Harris added 13 points.[66][67]

In front of its largest crowd of the season by far — including former Georgetown and NBA greats Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning and former Syracuse standout and NBA player Rony Seikaly — Georgetown next faced Syracuse on December 11,[68] the 97th meeting of the schools in a series that dated to 1930.[68] It was the annual renewal of the archrivalry between the schools during their membership in the original Big East Conference of 1979–2013, when John Thompson coached Georgetown and Jim Boeheim coached Syracuse. Thompson had died in 2020, and before the first game of the 2020–21 season, Georgetown had named its home court "John Thompson Jr. Court" in his honor in a ceremony at McDonough Gymnasium, where Georgetown played all of its home games that season with no fans in the stands because of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.[69] The school planned to dedicate the home court's name at Capital One Arena in front of fans when public health restrictions allowed a resumption of games there and with fans in attendance.[69] Play resumed at Capital One Arena and fans returned to games at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season, but — although the name "John Thompson Jr. Court" appeared on the court at Capital One Arena from the first game of the season — Georgetown waited until a ceremony before the Syracuse game to dedicate the court, with Boeheim — in his 46th season as Syracuse's head coach — looking on with a smile.[68]

Georgetown took the lead five minutes into the game on three straight Kaiden Rice three-pointers,[70] but Syracuse responded with a 9–0 run and the Orange retook the lead in the middle of the first half.[70] Georgetown had trouble scoring against Syracuse's strong zone defense in the first half,[68] shooting only 37 percent from the field to Syracuse's 56 percent, and at halftime trailed 44–34.[70] Ewing went with a smaller, quicker lineup during the second half to overcome the Orange's zone defense, using a rotation of guards and forwards rather than relying on a post player handling the ball in the middle of the zone, resulting in the Hoyas shooting 56 percent from the field after halftime.[68] Georgetown opened the second half with a 21–9 run,[70] giving the Hoyas their first lead since the middle of the first half at 55–53 with 11+1⁄2 minutes remaining in the game.[70] All five Syracuse starters averaged in double figures on the season and scored in double figures during the game,[70] but Georgetown's defense clamped down in the second half. Although the Orange's third-leading scorer and top three-point shooter, junior guard Joseph Girard III, went 4-for-6 from the field in the first half, he did not score again until 10 seconds remained in the game thanks to Dante Harris's defense — and to that of Tyler Beard, who filled in for Harris when Harris departed the game for four minutes in the second half after hurting his ankle in a hard fall.[68] During the second half, Syracuse shot only 36.1 percent from the field and 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) from three-point range.[68] The Hoyas made their last six free throws,[68] and Georgetown took the lead for good at 75–73 with 1:11 left to play[68] on a Kaiden Rice three-pointer — his first three-pointer after seven straight misses.[70] Georgetown committed 11 turnovers, seven of them in the second half, and Syracuse outscored the Hoyas 42–26 in the paint, but Georgetown attempted 10 more free throws than the Orange and outrebounded Syracuse 38–31,[68] and Georgetown won 79–75.[68][70] Aminu Mohammed shot 7-for-14 from the field and sank eight out of nine free throws, scored 20 points in the second half, and finished with a double double (a game-high and career-high 23 points and a game-high and career-high 13 rebounds) along with two blocked shots, two steals, and a personal-best five assists;[68][70] his two free throws with nine seconds left clinched the win.[70] Donald Carey added 18 points on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line,[68][70] while Kaiden Rice made five of his 15 three-point attempts to finish with 15 points.[68][70] Off the bench, Collin Holloway scored 10 points, eight of them in the second half.[70]

Georgetown hosted Howard on December 15 and will host TCU on December 18 in the annual Big East–Big 12 Battle. The TCU game will be the first meeting of the teams.

Georgetown will play a 20-game Big East Conference schedule, with a home-and-home series against each of the other ten Big East teams.