1991–92 Georgetown Hoyas Men's Basketball Team
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The 1991–92 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
in the 1991–92
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
season. John Thompson, coached them in his 20th season as head coach. They played their home games at the Capital Centre in
Landover, Maryland Landover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 25,998. Landover is contained between Sheriff Road and Central Avenue to the ...
. They were members of the
Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
and finished the season with a record of 22–10, 12–6 in Big East play, sharing the regular-season conference championship with
Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...
and St. John's. Their record earned them a bye in the first round of the
1992 Big East men's basketball tournament The 1992 Big East men's basketball tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from March 12 to March 15, 1992. Its winner received the Big East Conference (1979–2013), Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 1992 NCAA ...
, and they advanced to the final before losing to
Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...
. They were the No. 6 seed in the West Region of the
1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the champi ...
– the last of 14 consecutive Georgetown NCAA tournament appearances – and advanced to the second round before losing to West Region No. 3 seed
Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
. They were ranked No. 22 in the seasons final Associated Press Poll and No. 18 in the final
Coaches' Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I (NCAA), Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. ...
.


Season recap

Georgetowns starting lineup of senior
center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
and team co-captain
Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...
, sophomore
forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...
Robert Churchwell, senior forward Brian Kelly, sophomore
point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...
Joey Brown, and freshman
guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...
Irvin Church was so talented that observers picked the Hoyas as a co-favorite to win the 1991-92 Big East regular-season title. With
Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (June 25, 1966 – September 30, 2024) was a Congolese-American professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo ...
having graduated in May 1991, Mourning was now Georgetowns sole "big man," and he led the team, starting and scoring in double figures in all 32 games and collecting rebounds in double figures in 22 games. He led the team in scoring in 27 games and in rebounding in 26. In the first game of the year, Mourning had his second career
triple double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...
with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots against Hawaii Loa in the Hawaii Loa Classic. Over the next two weeks, he fell just short of two more triple doubles, with 21 points, 22 rebounds, and nine blocked shots against
Delaware State Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a privately governed, state-assisted historically black land-grant research university in Dover, Delaware. DSU also has two satellite campuses: one in Wilmington and one in Georgetown. The un ...
and 25 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocked shots in only 27 minutes of play against the
University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C., United States. The only public university in the city, it traces its origins to 1851 and opened in its current form in 1 ...
. He fell just short of a triple double again in the first Big East game of the year, with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and eight blocked shots against Villanova at the Capital Centre on January 4, 1992. He followed that up with 28 points and 12 rebounds against
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
and 23 points and 11 rebounds against
Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...
. In the 16 Big East games Georgetown played during the regular season, Mourning averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds a game, and his expertise in shooting
free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...
s was an important part of the Hoyas offense. His career-high 38-point performance in a double-overtime loss at
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
included scoring on a school-record 18 free throws as he shot 69.2% from the free throw line in 26 attempts. Three days later, in a rematch in which the Hoyas upset Villanova, he again almost had a triple double against the Wildcats, scoring 26 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and blocking seven shots as well as shooting 14-for-15 (93.3%) from the free-throw line. Churchwells sophomore season was virtually a repeat of his freshman year. He shot 49% from the field overall and 38% from three-point range, and he made 120
field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, a ...
and had 153 rebounds, an increase of six and one, respectively, from the year before. Although he had only one shot per 3 minutes 32 seconds of playing time, he averaged 9.6 points per game. Brown improved his shooting from the field, from 23.1% the previous year to 35.2%, but made some of his biggest contributions on defense. On February 19, 1992, 25th-ranked Georgetown faced 21st-ranked
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
at the Capital Centre in an important game for the Hoyas for their chances both for a Big East regular season championship and for an NCAA tournament bid. The game was tied 58–58 with 13 seconds left to play and the Huskies holding the ball for the final shot when Brown stole a Connecticut pass and made a layup at the buzzer to give the Hoyas a 60–58 last-second upset win. At 17th-ranked
Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...
four days later, Brown scored 23 points to lead Georgetown to another upset win. Against
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
at the Capital Centre in the regular-season finale, he had a 17-point effort in a win that tied Georgetown with
Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...
and St. John's for the regular-season Big East championship. After a bye in the first round, Georgetown defeated
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
in the quarterfinals of the 1992 Big East tournament and St. Johns in the semifinals. In the final game, the Hoyas met archrival Syracuse. The Hoyas fell 11 points behind the Orangemen in the second half, but the Hoyas, led by Mournings 23 points, came back to tie the game with 24 seconds left to play. Unfortunately for the Hoyas, Syracuse senior forward Dave Johnson connected on a shot with four seconds left to give the Orangemen a 54–52 win. It was Syracuses first defeat of Georgetown in a Big East tournament championship game in four tries. Mourning scored 76 points and 22 rebounds during the tournament, averaging 25.3 points per game, and was named the tournaments
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
, becoming the first player ever named the Big East's Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Tournament MVP in the same season, and only the second Tournament MVP from a team that did not win the tournament. The Hoyas were the No. 6 seed in the West Region of the
1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the champi ...
– the last of 14 consecutive Georgetown NCAA Tournament appearances. In the first round, they defeated
South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
, with Mourning scoring 21 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. They met the West Region No. 3 seed, 20th-ranked
Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
, in the second round. The Seminoles largely denied Mourning the ball, and in the last game of his collegiate career he had only three rebounds and seven field goal attempts, making four of them. Meanwhile, Florida State junior point guard
Sam Cassell Samuel James Cassell Sr. (born November 18, 1969) is an American professional basketball coach and former point guard who serves as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Drafted 24th overall in th ...
scored 19 points and sophomore forward Doug Edwards had 15 points and 16 rebounds, and the Seminoles defeated the Hoyas 78–68 in one of the biggest wins in Florida State basketball history. It was the third straight season that Georgetown had been eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas were ranked No. 22 in the seasons final Associated Press Poll and No. 18 in the final
Coaches' Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I (NCAA), Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. ...
. During the season, Mourning had averaged 21.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 5.0 blocked shots per game, shooting 59.5% from the field and 75.9% from the free-throw line. He graduated in May 1992 as one of the greatest players in Georgetown men's basketball history. During his four-year career, he had averaged 16.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 3.8 blocked shots per game. Still, he had never led his team to a
Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
appearance, even with Dikembe Mutombo as his teammate the first three seasons. This was largely because an unusually high number of scholarship players – 11 of 23 – transferred from Georgetown between 1987–1988 and 1992–1993, preventing the team from building a core of veterans to play with its two dominating centers. Without that core of veterans, the Mourning-Mutombo teams were unable to replicate the success of the veteran-filled
Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is a basketball ambassador for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played most o ...
teams of the early 1980s, which had reached the Final Four – and indeed the national championship game – three times in four seasons.


Roster

Source Senior guard Ronny Thompson was the son of head coach John Thompson, Jr.


Rankings

Source


1991–92 Schedule and results

SourcesOfficial Basketball Box Score Syracuse vs Georgetown 3/15/92 1:00 p.m. at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1991-92 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball seasons
Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located at Washington, D.C. The Georgetown's athletics department fields 24 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the Natio ...
Georgetown Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team