COVID-19 pause

The previous season, with Connecticut joining the Big East, plans had called for Georgetown to play its first-ever 20-game Big East Conference schedule, with a home-and-home series against each of the other ten Big East teams, but cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced the Hoyas' conference schedule to 16 games.^[80] Plans again called for a 20-game conference schedule in 2021–2022, but COVID-19 again interfered. Under the new Big East Conference policy for the season, any team unable to field enough players for a game, including for COVID-19 reasons, was required to forfeit the game, and when COVID-19 problems arose on the Georgetown team after the conclusion of the non-conference schedule, the Hoyas were forced to forfeit their December 22 conference season opener at No. 22 Providence.^[80] The forfeit temporarily dropped Georgetown's overall record to 6–6 and conference record to 0–1.^[80]

On December 23, however, after four Big East games had been cancelled due to COVID-19 and with cases of the disease spiking across the United States, the Big East rescinded the policy requiring forfeits.^[81] It announced a new policy, under which a team would be required to play a scheduled game if it could field seven scholarship players and one "countable" coaching staff member for the game, but that no team would be required to forfeit a game it could not play for COVID-19 reasons.^[81][82] Instead, any such game would be rescheduled if possible or declared a "no contest" if rescheduling proved impossible.^[81] The new policy erased Georgetown's forfeit to Providence and returned the team's record to 6–5 overall and 0–0 in the Big East. It also came just in time for the Hoyas to avoid forfeiting a second game, because on December 24 Georgetown announced that its game against Creighton scheduled for December 28 also was cancelled because of COVID-19 issues on the team.^[82] With continuing covid-19 problems on both the Georgetown and St. John's teams, the Big East announced on December 27 that Georgetown's first two conference home games, against St. John's on January 1 and No. 22 Xavier on January 4, also were cancelled.^[83][84] On January 1, Georgetown announced that its game at Providence had been rescheduled for January 20, and that the postponed game at Creighton would be played on February 14.^[85] On January 4, the Big East announced that the game against St. John's had been moved from Capital One Arena to McDonough Gymnasium and rescheduled for February 21,^[86] then on January 5 announced that the rescheduled game had been moved to February 3.^[87] The Xavier game never was rescheduled, limiting the Hoyas to a 19-game conference season. Meanwhile, the Hoyas paused basketball activities until January 4, when they resumed practices.^[88]

January

The Hoyas finally opened their conference season — the last Big East team to do so — by hosting Marquette at Capital One Arena on January 7.^[88] Donald Carey sat out the game with an undisclosed illness,^[88] so Collin Holloway started in his place,^[88] Holloway′s second collegiate start^[88] Kobe Clark returned to action for the first time since a hamstring injury sidelined him on November 25,^[88] but Ryan Mutombo did not play.^[89] Georgetown's defense was unable to stop the Golden Eagles either in the paint or from the perimeter, and Marquette shot 60 percent from the field.^[88] Marquette took advantage of Georgetown′s 15 turnovers to score 29 points in transition, outshot the Hoyas 56–28 in the paint, and shot 34.6 percent from three-point range.^[88] The Hoyas trailed by only a point in the first half when the Golden Eagles began a surge of just under five minutes in which they pulled ahead by 18 points,^[88] and although Georgetown clawed back to a three-point deficit in the second half, another huge Marquette run put the Golden Eagles ahead by 32 points.^[88] Collin Holloway led the team with 17 points, Dante Harris added 15, and Aminu Mohammed finished with 12,^[88] but the Hoyas shot only 4-of-18 from three-point range and only 30 percent from the field overall,^[89] and Marquette won 92–64, a season-high score for a Georgetown opponent.^[88] A furious Patrick Ewing abruptly left a postgame press conference after telling reporters that he was disappointed in the team's performance, saying "We did not compete", adding that "Big John [former Georgetown head coach John Thompson, Jr.] is rolling over in his grave for the performance that we showed tonight" and concluding with "everybody is on notice. If they want to play, they're going to have to frigging play."^[88]

During a six-day layoff before the Hoyas hosted Butler, Georgetown announced on January 12 that Ewing would sit out the game against the Bulldogs at Capital One Arena on January 13 in accordance with District of Columbia public health guidelines, and that assistant coach Louis Orr would guide the team that night.^[90][91] Timothy Ighoefe returned to action for the Butler game, playing for the first time since breaking his hand against Longwood on November 30, but Donald Cary, Dante Harris, and Kobe Clark all missed the game due to illness,^[91][92] and Georgetown's only remaining point guard, Tyler Beard, started in place of Harris.^[91] Missing an average 17 points per game from their sidelined players,^[91] the shorthanded Hoyas fell behind 14–10 to start the game, then used a 10–3 run to take a 20–17 lead halfway through the first half.^[91] An 11–2 Butler run to close the first half^[91] allowed the Bulldogs to tie the game at 27–27 with 2:55 left in the half^[92] and take a 32–27 halftime lead, and Butler scored the first eight points of the second half, capping off a 13–0 run to pull ahead 40–27.^[91] Butler later increased its lead to 53–33, and although Georgetown closed to a 10-point deficit with 1:43 remaining, the Hoyas got no closer, and the Bulldogs cruised to a 72–58 victory.^[91][92] Beard led the team with 15 points, Collin Holloway finished with 11, and Ighoefe scored four points and grabbed nine rebounds in 16 minutes of play,^[91][92] but the Hoyas shot only 38.5 percent from the field in the first half and 30.3 percent after halftime^[91] and showed weaknesses in turnovers, in scoring on layups, and especially on defense.^[92] Aminu Mohammed finished with only seven points on 2–for 16 shooting,^[91] while Kaiden Rice hit only one three-pointer on eight attempts and scored only five points.^[92] Georgetown dropped to 0–2 in conference play and at 6–7 became the only Big East Team with an overall losing record. Three days later, with Dante Harris returning to action and scoring 13 points but Donald Carey, Kobe Clark, and Ewing still sidelined and Orr again coaching the team,^[93][94][95] the Hoyas' losing streak grew to four games in a loss to St. John's at Madison Square Garden. Aminu Mohammed had a double-double (13 points and 12 rebounds) despite attempting only seven field goals, and Kaiden Rice scored 19 points, but the Hoyas committed 21 turnovers, off which the Red Storm scored 29 points.^[94] Georgetown's defense remained porous, allowing St. John's to break open a 15–15 tie with an 11-0 run in the first half. The Hoyas closed to a six-point deficit,^[95] but trailed by 11 at halftime and fell behind by 20 points in the second half.^[94][95] Although the Hoyas used a 15–3 run to close the gap to eight points,^[95] they never got closer than seven points after halftime.^[94][95] Georgetown opened its conference season with three straight losses for the first time since the 2016–17 season with two straight games against ranked teams looming next on their schedule.^[94]

The Hoyas next visited No. 21 Providence — their first Top-25 opponent of the season — in a game rescheduled from December 22. It was Providence′s first game in 12 days due to COVID-19-related cancellations.^[96] The Hoyas started slow, missing their first 11 shots and committing five turnovers in the first seven minutes, and the Friars opened a 13–0 lead before Georgetown scored.^[97] Georgetown used an 18–2 run to close the gap^[97] and trailed by only three points, 37–34, at halftime.^[96] Providence opened the second half with an 11–2 run to take a 12-point lead,^[97] and Georgetown fell behind by 16 points halfway through the second half before closing to a 64–60 deficit with five minutes remaining.^[96][97] The Hoyas got no closer,^[97] and the Friars held on to win 83–75,^[96] giving Georgetown its first 0–4 conference start since 2016–2017. Returning from a week-and-a-half of inactivity due to COVID-19 protocols, Donald Carey scored 21 points^[96][98] and Kaiden Rice added 19 off the bench^[96][98] while Aminu Mohammed finished with 12.^[98] Entering the game with a Big East-worst 26.7 percent team three-point shooting average, the Hoyas went 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) from beyond the arc.^[97] However, their defense — worst in the conference, giving up 79.1 points per game entering the game^[97] — had another bad showing: The Friars had little trouble against Georgetown′s man-to-man defense,^[97] and Providence scored 30 points in the paint,^[97] shooting 51.7 percent overall from the field and 50 percent (5 for 10) from three-point range.^[97]

Georgetown returned home to meet another ranked opponent, No. 11 Villanova. The Wildcats pulled out to a nine-point lead before Georgetown used a full-court press to force several Villanova turnovers.^[99] Team captain Donald Carey scored the 1,000th point of his collegiate career with 2:47 remaining in the first half,^[99] and the Hoyas led 40–37 at halftime^[100] and extended their lead to 47–39^[99][100] with 16:47 left to play in the game,^[99] but the Wildcats then scored nine straight points to take the lead.^[100] Georgetown led for the last time at 56–55 with 10:43 remaining.^[100] Villanova pulled away after that and won 85–74.^[100] The Wildcats shot 53.6 percent from the field and went 16-for-16 from the free-throw line, and Villanova guard Collin Gillespie scored a game-high 28 points, only two points short of his career high, set against Georgetown on February 3, 2019.^[100] It was Villanova's fifth win over Georgetown in six meetings and 17th in the last 20 games between the schools.^[100] The result evened the all-time series between the schools at 48–48, the first all-time series tie since it was 7–7 in 1981 and a marked turnaround since Georgetown held a 42–28 series edge — the greatest series lead by either school — in 2012.^[100][101] Villanova head coach Jay Wright improved his all-time record against Georgetown to 23-13,^[100] while Ewing's coaching record against Villanova fell to 2–8^[102] and all-time record as Georgetown′s head coach to 68–69.^[100] Collin Holloway led the Hoyas with a career-high 25 points,^[100][103] Dante Harris added 17,^[100][103] and Aminu Mohammed finished with 13^[100][103] and Carey with 11.^[103] Georgetown opened its Big East season with five straight losses for the first time in school history,^[99] with four of the conference losses by double-digit margins.^[100] In The Washington Post that evening, columnist Candace Bucker wrote that the 2022–2023 Hoyas had made "the worst kind of program history," that the program's circumstances had "never been this dire," and that for the first time in many observers' memory, the Washington, D.C., area was witnessing "an irrelevant Georgetown hoops program." creating "a hole in the region's fabric of basketball."^[104]

Three days later, with ESPN questioning whether Ewing's head-coaching tenure could survive the 0–5 conference start,^[105] the Hoyas were on the road to play their third straight ranked opponent, visiting No. 20 Connecticut.^[106] UConn never trailed in the game, even though Georgetown hit seven of its first 10 three-pointers and went 8-first-12 from beyond the arc in the first half, closing to 36–31.^[106] However, the Huskies shot 56 from the field during the half, held a 52–40 lead at halftime, and then opened the second half with a 5–0 run to lead 57–40.^[106] Connecticut′s lead reached 20 points at 72–52, and the Huskies extended their lead from there, winning in a rout, 96–73.^[106] It was UConn's second-largest margin of victory against the Hoyas, exceeded only by a 94–70 win over Georgetown in January 2004.^[106] The Huskies outscored the Hoyas on fast breaks 27–6 and outrebounded Georgetown 40–28.^[106] Aminu Mohammed led the Hoyas with 15 points, Collin Holloway had 11, and Donald Carey finished with 10.^[106] Jalin Billingsley left the game late in the first half with a knee injury and did not return.^[106] A loss in a rematch with Butler in Indianapolis four days later closed out Georgetown′s first winless January since 1910.^[107][108] In a losing effort against the Bulldogs, Aminu Mohammed scored a game-high 16 points and Donald Carey added 12.^[107] After the game, KenPom ranked Georgetown's defense the worst in Big East history since KenPom's ratings began in 2002.^[109]

On January 27, Georgetown announced that junior guard/wing Wayne Bristol, Jr., had transferred from Howard to Georgetown amid hopes that he was eligible to begin play with Georgetown without delay,^[110][111] although "administrative issues" with the NCAA about his eligibility cropped up almost immediately.^[111] Although his eligibility for the spring semester eventually was resolved, e did not appear in a game during the 2021–2022 season.^[112]

February–March

Georgetown opened February with a three-game homestand, which began with losses to Seton Hall and St. John's, the latter game rescheduled from January 1. To kick off Black History Month, Georgetown wore the colors of the Washington Bears and Seton Hall the colors of the Owl Field Club of Newark, New Jersey, a tribute to pre-National Basketball Association professional African American basketball teams.^[113] With Capital One Arena booked for a Kacey Musgraves concert, the St. John's game took place at McDonough Gymnasium with a crowd limited to 1,100 Georgetown student season-ticket holders due to COVID-19 pandemic-related restructions,^[114] Georgetown's first Big East game at McDonough with fans in attendance since 1984.^[115] Donald Carey led the Hoyas in both games, with 15 points against Seton Hall^[116] and a career-high 23 against St. John′s,^[117] while Aminu Mohammed had 14 points against the Pirates,^[116] Kaiden Rice came off the bench in both games and finished with 12 against Seton Hall^[116] and 20 in the St. John's game,^[117] and Dante Harris scored 12 against Seton Hall^[118] and just missed a double-double against St. John's with 10 points and nine rebounds.^[117]

The Hoyas finished the homestand by hosting Providence, which had risen to No. 15 in the AP poll and entered the game on a six-game winning streak.^[119] It was the 1,500th broadcast — well over half the 2,803 Georgetown games ever played^[120] — for longtime Georgetown radio voice Rich Chvotkin, who had broadcast every Georgetown game since the 1974–1975 season except for missing most of the 1990–1991 season while on United States Army Reserve duty during the Gulf War.^[119] The Hoyas forced Providence — which entered the game averaging 11.8 turnovers per game^[119] — into 10 turnovers in the first half^[119] and led at halftime 30–27^[119] despite committing nine turnovers of their own.^[119] It was only the second halftime lead of the season against a Big East opponent for Georgetown,^[119] but the tide turned after halftime. Georgetown scored only two field goals in the first 12:26 of the second half,^[119] allowing Providence to take the lead and pull away. Friars junior guard Jared Bynum scored only five points in the first half,^[119] but in the second half had a personal 13–0 run^[119] and outscored the entire Georgetown team 27–22^[119] to finish with a career-high 32 points.^[119] Aminu Mohammed led the Hoyas with 18 points,^[119][121] and Donald Carey scored 11,^[121] but the Friars won 71–52 in Providence's 12th victory in 15 games against Georgetown since 2015,^[119] completing the Friars′ sixth regular-season sweep of the Hoyas in eight seasons.^[119] The loss also extended the Hoyas′ losing streak to a school-record 11 games,^[119] exceeding the 10-game skid that extended across the last nine games of the 2003–2004 season and the opening game of the 2004–2005 season. At 6–15, the Hoyas also fell to nine games below .500 for the first time since the 1971–1972 season, when they had posted a 3–23 record.^[119]

The losing streak reached 12 games in a visit to DePaul in which Blue Demons sophomore forward David Jones had the first triple double in DePaul history (22 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists).^[122] The Hoyas led 31–30 at halftime,^[122] but the Blue Demons broke a second-half tie to put the game away with a 26–0 run as part of stretch in which they outscored the Hoyas 33–2.^[122] A scheduling anomaly followed in which Georgetown played back-to-back games against Creighton, caused by the rescheduling of the December 28 game at Creighton to February 14. In the first game, at Capital One Arena on February 12, two Bluejays — Ryan Hawkins with a season-high 30 points and 12 rebounds and Ryan Kalkenbrenner with a career-high 22 points and 15 rebounds — had double-doubles and Creighton had a season-high 26 assists on the way to defeating the Hoyas,^[123] and in the rematch two days later in Omaha, the Hoyas gave up a career-high 27 points to Bluejays guard Alex O'Connell and another double-double to Hawkins (14 points and 10 rebounds).^[124] Kaiden Rice led the Hoyas with 24 points against DePaul^[122] and scored 16 points in the first Creighton game.^[123] Aminu Mohammed had a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) against DePaul,^[122] 11 points in the first Creighton game,^[123] and another double-double in the second Creighton game with a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.^[124] Donald Carey had 12 points against the Blue Demons,^[122] 16 in the first game against the Bluejays,^[123] and 12 against Creighton in the second game,^[124] while Dante Harris finished with 10 points in the first game against the Bluejays^[125] and had a career-high 23 points in the second Creighton game.^[124] The back-to-back losses to Creighton extended the Hoyas' school-record losing streak to 14 games,^[124] and it lengthened further when Georgetown lost at Marquette on February 16, with Collin Holloway leading the team with 15 points, Donald Carey and Dante Harris each adding 14, and Aminu Mohammed finishing with another double-double (13 points and 17 rebounds).^[126] The Marquette loss gave Georgetown a school-record 14 conference losses in a single season.^[127]

Georgetown next visited No. 10 Villanova, the winner of four in a row, in the 91st meeting of the teams.^[128] Georgetown fell behind 16–5 in the first 10+1⁄2 minutes, but the Hoyas took advantage of poor Villanova outside shooting to close to 19–18 with 4:14 left in the first half.^[128] Villanova then finished the half with a 13–4 run.^[128] The Hoyas held Villanova's two top scorers — guards Collin Gillespie and Justin Moore — to 13-of-15 (13.3 percent) shooting from the field in the opening half,^[128] but themselves shot only 8-for-29 (27.6 percent) from the field and 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) in three-pointers,^[128] and Georgetown trailed 32–22 at halftime.^[128] Georgetown scored on two three-pointers to open the second half, cutting the Wildcats' lead to four.^[128] As the half continued, the Hoyas twice closed to a three-point deficit, including an 11–3 run that made the score 56–53 with 8:22 left to play, but Villanova then had a 10–4 run to pull ahead 66–57 with 4:19 remaining.^[128] The Wildcats went on to win 74–66, giving them a 46–45 edge in the series all-time,^[128] Villanova's first series lead since 7–6 in 1976.^[101] Donald Carey scored 24 points^[128] and Dante Harris added 16.^[128] The loss dropped Patrick Ewing's record as head coach against Big East opponents to 26–59.^[128]

After five days off, Georgetown opened its final homestand of the year by hosting DePaul, which snapped a four-game losing streak and handed the Hoyas their 17th straight defeat by scoring on a layup and two free throws in the final 59 seconds for a 68–65 victory.^[129] Aminu Mohammed just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds,^[129] while Donald Carey scored 15 points and Jalin Billingsley 10 against the Blue Demons.^[129] Georgetown then closed out its home season on February 27 with its final Top-25 opponent of the year, No. 21 Connecticut, which had a four-game winning streak entering the game.^[130] The Huskies made 11 of 20 three-pointers against the Hoya defense, with seven different UConn players sinking at least one three-point shot.^[130] UConn led 41–26 at halftime,^[130] 66–46 with 11:27 remaining,^[130] and 81–59 with 2:53 left play.^[130] Georgetown made a late run, but Connecticut won 86–77.^[130] Dante Harris paced the Hoyas on offense with 23 points, while Aminu Mohammed had 16 and Donald Carey added 13.^[130] The loss concluded a winless February for the Hoyas, clinched a last-place conference finish for Georgetown for the first time in the combined history of the original Big East Conference of 1979–2013 and the new Big East Conference,^[130] and dropped Patrick Ewing's career head-coaching record to 68–81.^[130]

In the immediate aftermath of the loss to Connecticut, the press asked Ewing about whether his job as head coach was secure, given the team's lack of success during the season, and he replied "Of course I want to be back here...But in this position and this job, whatever happens will happen. I’m hoping that I’ll be back and doing something that I love at a place that I love and getting us back to being the king of the hill."^[131] On March 2, Georgetown University athletic director Lee Reed issued a public statement in support o Ewing, acknowledging the "disappointment of a difficult season," but continuing: "In this ever[-]evolving landscape of college athletics we are committed to Coach Ewing, and we are working with him to evaluate every aspect of the men’s basketball program and to make the necessary changes for him to put us back on the path to success for next year."^[131]

Georgetown closed out the regular season with two road games. In the first, held the evening of March 2 not long after Reed's statement that day, the Hoyas lost to Seton Hall, with Kaiden Rice leading the team with 17 points, Collin Holloway adding 16, Dante Harris finishing with 12,^[132] and Donald Carey scoring 11.^[133] Combining results in both the original Big East Conference of 1979–2013 and those of the Big East Conference formed in 2013, the loss tied the Big East record for losses in a season, matched only by 0–18 records posted by Miami in the 1993–1994 season and DePaul in the 2008–2009 season,^[131] during both of which Big East teams played 18-game conference schedules. In the season finale at Xavier three days later, the Musketeers broke a five-game losing streak to hand Georgetown its 20th loss overall and 19th conference loss in a row,^[134] setting a record for conference losses in a season by a Big East team. Dante Harris had 19 points, Collin Holloway added 17 points, and Aminu Mohammed finished with a double-double (15 points and 16 rebounds).^[134]

Georgetown became the first Big East team ever to post an 0-19 record in regular-season conference play and only the third to have a winless conference season. The loss to Xavier completed the first winless conference season in school history. It also was the first time Georgetown has finished in last place in Big East history,^[135] and Georgetown's only last-place finish in a conference other than in the 1934–1935 season, when the Hoyas finished last in the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference.

All-Big East Awards

• Sportsmanship Award: Donald Carey

Big East All-Freshman Team

• Aminu Mohammed

Sources^[138][139]