March 6, 2006
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University men's basketball team maintained its spot among the top-25 teams in the country in a pair of national polls released on Monday as the regular season came to a close. Georgetown is ranked 23rd in the country in the latest ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' poll and are also tabbed at No. 23 in the Associated Press poll.
Georgetown moved into the top-25 on January 23, following its 87-84 win over then No. 1 Duke. The Hoyas have maintained their spot in the top-25 in every edition of the poll since then.
The Hoyas finished the regular season with a 19-8 overall record and a 10-6 mark in the BIG EAST Conference. Georgetown is seeded fifth in the BIG EAST Tournament, which starts at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Monday. The Hoyas will face 12th-seeded Notre Dame on Wednesday, March 6 at 2 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN and can be heard locally on SportsTalk 980 AM.
Georgetown has an all-time record of 38-19 in BIG EAST Tournament play. The Hoyas have won six BIG EAST Tournament Championships (1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1989). Only one other league member has won as many conference tournament championships (Connecticut).
The Hoyas earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament, finishing 10-6 overall in league play, while the Irish posted a 6-10 mark in league play, finishing with the No. 12 seed. When the team's tip off at Madison Square Garden, it will be the first-ever meeting in BIG EAST Tournament play. The Hoyas have been seeded fifth in the league once before, during the 2003 Tournament. That year, GU posted a first round win over 12th-seeded Villanova (46-41) and lost to top-seeded Syracuse in the Quarterfinals (74-69). This is the first time the Hoyas are playing the 12th seeded team in the tournament.
Georgetown has been led by sophomores Jeff Green (Hyattsville, Md./Northwestern) and Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep), who were named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team in a vote of the conference coaches.
Green has been one of the most versatile players in the league this season. He is second on the Hoyas in scoring, averaging 11.8 points per game, and ranks tied for 16th in the BIG EAST with 6.3 rebounds per game, and 15th in the conference with a team-best 3.26 assists per game. Green, a forward who was voted one of the team's co-captains this season, has connected on 47.0 percent of his field goals (117-of-249). The BIG EAST Co-Rookie of the Year last season, Green has started every game since coming to the Hilltop and is averaging 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds. He has scored 736 points in 59 career games.
Hibbert, meanwhile, leads the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game, is tied for 16th in the BIG EAST with 6.3 rebounds per game and ranks tied for 11th in the league with 1.0 blocks per game. The 7-2 center has recorded six double-doubles this season, leading the team in scoring 10 times and in rebounding on nine occasions. Hibbert leads the team in field goal percentage as well, connecting on 59.9 percent of his shots from the field (121-of-202). His scoring average this year, has climbed nearly seven points - from 5.1 to 11.9, a 6.8 point-per game increase - a number that ranks 10th among all players in the BIG EAST in terms of scoring improvement. In two years at Georgetown, Hibbert is averaging 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds, while starting 44 of 59 games played.
