What a year it’s been for the Hoyas.
Early on in 2019, the Hoyas flashed their immense potential, anchored by a stud freshmen trio as they came out of Big East play with a .500 record and several upsets notched on their belts (and somewhere in there Thompson’s Towel launched!). The Hoyas returned to post-season play for the first time in four years (albeit in the NIT), and had high expectations over the summer heading into the new season. Georgetown got off to a rocky start, looking rough against their early opponents (including a 20-point halftime deficit to Mount St. Mary’s and a blowout loss to Penn State). On top of that, the program underwent a series of seismic shocks as James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc announced their decisions to transfer, along with the later departures of Galen Alexander and Myron Gardner as rumors and speculation continued to swirl.
The Hoyas looked dead in the water and all optimism for the season was erased. Instead, the Hoyas have embarked on a renaissance, taking down Oklahoma State and SMU on the road, then proceeding to rack up wins to head into tomorrow’s Big East opener against Providence on a six-game winning streak. Players like Terrell Allen, Jagan Mosely, and Jahvon Blair have all stepped up, and the team is playing its best basketball of the year.
Long story short, it’s been a roller-coaster of a year, and now we’re going to look back at the top 10 moments of the year.
This list was compiled by Will, Dan, and Jacob off of the cumulative rankings arising from our own individual ranks, and it covers the entire 2019 calendar year (so most of Big East play last season up to the end of non-conference play this season). Without further ado, our top 10 moments of the last year!
(Honorable Mention): Omer Yurtseven Annihilates Samford
Omer Yurtseven is the definition of “lowkey good”. For a man who’s had six double-doubles on the year (and often getting to that point in the first half of games), his play style doesn’t command a lot of attention to himself.
That changed when he helped lead the Hoyas to a 99-71 pummeling of Samford by scoring a career-high 32 points and grabbing a whopping 17 rebounds. He was a dominant presence on both sides of the ball, and has capably proven himself to be another great entry in the Georgetown tradition of “Big Man U”.
(10): Patrick Ewing Hypes Up The Garden vs. Texas
As part of the 2K Empire Classic, Patrick Ewing returned home to Madison Square Garden for the fourth time as the coach of his alma mater after patrolling the paint for so many years as a member of the New York Knicks. This time, Ewing would be coaching the Hoyas against #22 Texas, a big matchup on paper.
Ewing’s fourth game at the Garden as the head coach of the Hoyas is memorable because enroute to a double-digit steamrolling of #22 ranked Texas, Ewing raised his hands for more noise from the Garden crowd. And the Garden crowd obliged.
It is undoubtedly cool to see your Hall-of-Fame coach back in his old stomping grounds, leading his team to one of the best wins of his tenure, with the same power to hype up the crowd as he had held nearly 20 years earlier.
(9): Mac McClung Buries St. John’s in his MSG Debut
Madison Square Garden is known as the “Mecca of Basketball”.
It’s one of the biggest stages in all of basketball, so it’s fitting that Mac McClung rose to the occasion to hand St. John’s a brutal loss, thanks to the 25 points he scored. In addition, he notched five rebounds and five assists, leading to a strong all-around performance. It was a coming-out party on the national stage for McClung, especially by playing in such a vaunted arena in an iconic matchup.
(8): Akinjo outduels Markus Howard as Hoyas upset Marqutte
Coming off an ugly 32-point loss to lowly DePaul, Georgetown was expected to once again be playing in the dreaded Wednesday night double-header of the Big East tournament. Instead, the Hoyas, led by James Akinjo, took matters into their own hands and took down a ranked Marquette team on the road to end the regular season.
Akinjo was the star of the game, tallying 25 points, including five three-pointers, none more memorable than a contested step-back to tie the game with just over eight minutes to play. What’s more? This performance came on a night when Akinjo was matched up with Markus Howard, not only a top guard in the Big East, but also the nation.
After the victory, James Akinjo was recognized as a rising talent by not just Thompson’s Towel readers, but also college basketball fans across the country. NBA superstar, and fellow Oakland native, Damian Lillard even took to Twitter to hype up Akinjo.
(7): Jahvon Blair makes 7 threes vs SMU
Blair Swish Project baby. These games are always the most memorable, when a key bench piece just lights it up for a night with a scorching hot hand.
That night, Jahvon Blair went 7 for 11 from three to help lift the Hoyas past the SMU Mustangs, scoring a career-high 21 points and bringing the Hoyas win streak to two after the departures of Akinjo and LeBlanc.
It also inspired the creation of this GIF, for which we are thankful.
(6): Greg Malinowski’s three-pointer barrage vs. Butler
Greg Malinowski, what a guy.
A fan favorite, Malinowski took it up another notch when he unleashed a torrent of three-pointers against the Butler Bulldogs in Hinkle Fieldhouse, one of the toughest arenas to play in within the Big East.
Remember what we said about how much fun it is to watch bench players just go absolutely insane on the court one afternoon out of nowhere? Malinowski got in on that action too.
Malinowski eventually ended up with a career best 26 points, going 6/7 from downtown, and this stream of three-pointers helped the Hoyas kick off both Big East play and the new year in style by beating the Bulldogs 84-76.
(5): Hoyas take down #17 Villanova
Allow me to set the scene. It was a blustery winter Wednesday, and DC was covered in snow. Classes were cancelled for the day, and as a result, the student section at Capital One Arena was packed.
Over the next two hours, that packed student section got to witness the Hoyas dismantle #17 Villanova, the reigning national champions. And yes, it was indeed a dismantling. The last lead that the Wildcats held in that game was with over 15 minutes left in the first half.
What was additionally satisfying in the victory was senior Jessie Govan’s memorable night, a rock solid 21 points on 8/12 shooting. The crowd’s energy culminated in a Govan transition three with 13:12 to play, which put the Hoyas up 15 and brought the Georgetown faithful to their feet as Govan urged them on.
This was perhaps the first signature win of Patrick Ewing’s tenure as the head coach of the Hoyas, and it showed the immense potential and talent that the Hoyas had not just for that current season, but also the next one.
(4): Jagan Mosely bodies Sandro Mamukelashvili
Jagan Mosely ended a man’s life.
Well, nobody actually died, although Sandro Mamukelashvili of Seton Hall certainly looked like he died inside after this dunk from Mosely.
This is the face of a man whose soul has left his body. He has a family, Jagan. The game itself was a dud, with the Hoyas struggling on the road against Seton Hall, but this dunk still persists in our memories because of how amazing it was.
(3): Mac McClung goes off for 33 points vs. Ok. State
Mac McClung went off against _____.
You can pretty much fill in the blank with whatever opponent the Hoyas have played, but he really went off against Oklahoma State, scoring 33 points including going 4/8 from three.
This ranking isn’t solely for Mac’s actual performance (which was certainly fantastic), but for what it meant for the program. Just a few days prior, James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc had announced their departures from the team and their intent to transfer, and in the days that followed, more news came out about LeBlanc and other members of the team, with some ugly allegations in the mix.
It looked as if the Hoyas were going to be eaten alive by Oklahoma State, particularly given how UNCG had beaten the Hoyas just a few days earlier (with Akinjo and LeBlanc). Instead, the Hoyas beat Oklahoma State on the road at Stillwater in a wire-to-wire win, at the time a borderline top-25 team, on the road in Stillwater, thanks in no small part to Mac’s 33 point outburst.
(2): James Akinjo slaps the floor back vs. Seton Hall
After Seton Hall guard Quincy McKnight scored to make it 55-51 Seton Hall in what was a tight affair against Georgetown, he got a bit cocky and slapped the floor as he got set on defense. Big mistake.
James Akinjo proceeded to drive to the rim, scoring at an angle that looks quite literally physically impossible, and proceeded to slap the floor right back at McKnight.
That floor slap reversed the momentum of the game, and the Hoyas eventually pulled out a win in double overtime against a good Seton Hall team to keep their hopes alive of playing on Thursday night of the Big East Tournament.
(1): Mac McClung/James Akinjo clutch shots vs. Providence
This game against Providence was a thriller. It marked the return of Mac McClung to the Hoyas’ rotation after missing four games with an injury, and he delivered. McClung hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer near the logo at half-court to tie up the game and send it to overtime.
James Akinjo later chipped in a deep three-pointer of his own to tie up the game and send it to a second overtime, with the Hoyas eventually pulling out a major win.
The game was the first true time that the fighting spirit of the Hoyas was on full display, staying aggressive that entire Saturday afternoon to pull out a win against the Providence Friars. It was gutsy play, and it gave Hoyas fans a tantalizing view of what was to come.
It’s been quite a year, and we thank you for following us along every step of the way! Here’s to a successful 2020 for both you and the Hoyas!
