Sept. 11, 2007
Washington, D.C. - When the 2006-07 college basketball season began, there was a sense of anticipation on the Hilltop at Georgetown University. Coming off a 2005-06 season in which the Hoya men's basketball reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, expectations for the coming season were at a high. On top of that, Georgetown University would be celebrating the 100th year of men's basketball on the Hilltop.
Georgetown began the season ranked among the top-10 teams in the country and were one of the favorites to win the BIG EAST Conference, led by the junior frontcourt tandem of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert.
The Hoyas opened the season with a pair of wins, first at home against Hartford and then a big 86-70 road win against Vanderbilt, avenging one of their only home losses from the previous season. Green scored a game-high 19 points and Hibbert added a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Hoyas led from start to finish.
After a home loss to Old Dominion, the team bounced back with wins over Fairfield and Ball State. In the win at Fairfield, freshman forward DaJuan Summers, starting his first career game, led the way with a game-high 17 points. Against Ball State, the Hoyas handed out a season-high 20 assists while Green scored a team-high 14 points. Back-to-back losses, at home to Oregon and at Duke, left the Hoyas with a 4-3 overall record.
The Blue and Gray returned home to Verizon Center and reeled off five-straight wins before Christmas - beating James Madison, Oral Roberts, Winston-Salem State, Towson and Navy - in impressive fashion before hitting the road and extending their streak to six games with a big win at Michigan. Hibbert scored a team-high 14 points to lead four players in double figures in that win.
Propelled by the six-game win streak, the Hoyas entered BIG EAST Conference play with spirits high and they did not disappoint in the league opener. Hibbert again led GU, scoring 18 points to lead four players in double figures en route to a 66-48 win over the Irish, who had won 12-straight games.
The team suffered back-to-back league losses - at home to Villanova and on the road at Pittsburgh - but it would be the last time all season the Hoyas lost consecutive games.
Summers matched his career-high with 17 points and Hibbert added 16 as the Hoyas improved to 12-5 overall and 2-2 in the league with a 68-54 win at Rutgers. The team followed that up with a 74-58 win at Seton Hall. Junior guard Jonathan Wallace scored a career-high 21 points and Summers recorded his first career double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Green scored 19 points to lead the team past DePaul, 66-52, and Hibbert followed that up with a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds - his third double-double of the season - as GU topped Cincinnati at home, 82-67.
The winning ways continued in a road matchup at St. John's as Green scored a career-high 24 points and the Hoyas connected on 73 percent of their second half field goals in a 72-48 win, extending the win streak to five games. Facing a tough Louisville team on the road, Hibbert led the way. The 7-2 center scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Hoyas to a big 73-65 win away from home.
Georgetown retuned home to face 11th-ranked Marquette on February 10, the day the Georgetown All-Century Team would be announced. With a sold-out crowd in attendance at Verizon Center, Hibbert and Green led the way in a 76-68 victory. Hibbert scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Green matched his career-high with 24 points.
The momentum carried over two nights later as Hibbert scored 20 points, four players scored in double figures and the team hit 60 percent of its field goals en route to a 71-53 win over West Virginia. It was the eighth-straight win for the team as they improved to 19-5 overall and 9-2 in league play.
The team hit the road again, this time facing Villanova, and Green delivered in the clutch, hitting a running jumper with 20 seconds left and adding two free throws with 3.6 seconds left as Georgetown came back from an 11-point first half deficit en route to a 58-55 win.
A win on the road at Cincinnati gave the Hoyas 10-straight wins against conference opponents, the first time since 1984-85 a Georgetown team had won that many in a row against league opponents. That was followed up by a come-from-behind win over Pittsburgh at home. Wallace scored 17 points and Green tallied 11 of his 14 in the second half as the Hoyas fought back from an eight-point deficit with eight minutes left on the way to a 61-53 win.
A loss to Syracuse on the road ended the team's win streak at 11 games, but the Hoyas closed out the regular season with a 61-53 win over Connecticut. Hibbert recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Hoyas clinched the BIG EAST Regular Season title.
In the BIG EAST Tournament, the top-seeded Hoyas held off a late rally from Villanova, hitting eight of 10 free throws in the final five minutes, for a 62-57 win. Facing Notre Dame in the semifinals, Green, who scored a career-high 30 points, hit a pull-up jumper with 13 seconds left to give the Hoyas an 84-82 win and move the team into the championship game. Against the Panthers, Green scored a game-high 21 points and Hibbert scored 14 of his 18 in the first half as the Hoyas opened up a 15-point first half lead en route to a 65-42 win. It was the team's league-record seventh BIG EAST Tournament title and first since 1989, while Green, who averaged 21.0 points and 8.7 rebounds in three games, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The Hoyas cruised to an 80-55 win over Belmont in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before facing former conference rival Boston College in the second round. Trailing by eight points late in the game, Georgetown turned to Hibbert, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half as the Hoyas pulled away for a 62-55 win.
In the Sweet 16, Green again used his late-game heroics to lift the Blue and Gray. Trailing by eight points at halftime, Georgetown erased the deficit and Green hit a turn around jumper with 2.5 seconds left to give the Hoyas a thrilling 66-65 win and move them into the NCAA Regional Finals.
The game against North Carolina to determine one of the teams for the 2007 Final Four was one of the great games in Georgetown history. The Hoyas trailed by 11 points in the second half and fought back to tie the game at 81-all when Wallace hit a three-pointer with 31 seconds left in regulation. In overtime, it was all Georgetown, as the Hoyas scored 14-straight points en route to a 95-81 win that moved the team into the Final Four for the first time since 1985.
Georgetown's season ended with a loss to Ohio State in the Final Four, but the team finished the season with a 30-7 overall record, including a 13-3 mark in the BIG EAST, and was ranked No. 4 in the country in the final national polls.
Green earned numerous individual honors, earning Associated Press All-American honors, being named the BIG EAST Player of the Year, the BIG EAST Tournament's Most Outstanding Player and the MVP of the NCAA East Regional. Hibbert was a first-team All-BIG EAST selection, Summers was named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team and John Thompson III was named the Black Coaches Association Coach of the Year for the second-straight season.
