1988–89 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

Since Patrick Ewing's graduation in May 1985, Georgetown had struggled to find a suitable replacement at center; sophomore Grady Mateen had been ineffective at the position in the 1985–86 season and had transferred to Ohio State after that year, while his successor Ben Gillery, who played in 1986–87 and 1987–88, had lacked offensive skill and seen only limited playing time. However, two talented centers joined the team this season. Freshman Alonzo Mourning, viewed nationally as "the next Patrick Ewing," arrived, and great things were expected of him and, because of him, for Georgetown men's basketball as a whole. Mourning and Mutombo were among five future National Basketball Association (NBA) players on the 1988–89 squad. Unaccustomed to American collegiate basketball, Mutombo appeared in 33 of the team's 34 games but started none of them and saw only limited playing time, averaging 11 minutes per game while he became acclimated to the college game in the United States. Although he averaged only 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for the season, these figures belied the scoring and defensive prowess he displayed on the court. Opponents found his close-range shots virtually impossible to stop, and he broke a 22-year-old school record with a 70.7% shooting average from the field; he scored in 23 games, and shot 100% from the field in ten of them. On defense, he showed himself to be a skilled shot blocker; never taught in Zaire to jump in anticipation of an opponent's shot, he simply stood his ground and waited for the opponent to commit to a shot before rising to swat it away. He blocked 75 shots during the season, and set a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record with 12 shots blocked in a single game against St. John's. After a difficult sophomore year in which he had been demoted to the bench, junior guard Dwayne Bryant became a starter again this season. He played in all 34 games and started 32 of them, shooting 50% from the field overall and 43% from three-point range. He led the Hoyas in scoring in two big regular-season Big East games against Boston College and St. John's. Junior guard Mark Tillmon slumped during the season, averaging only four points per game through early January 1989 and losing his starting job to Jackson; he appeared in 32 games but started only three of them. After Big East play began, however, he became one of Georgetown's top scorers off the bench, with 14 points in each of the Hoyas' two regular-season games against Boston College and 18 points in the season finale against archrival Syracuse. He ended the season averaging 8.3 points per game. ==Team season recap==

The Hoyas finished in first place in the Big East's regular season, the second time in three seasons and fourth time in school history that they had finished in first or tied for first. They won the 1989 Big East tournament, defeating fifth-ranked Syracuse in the final for the sixth Big East tournament championship in Georgetown history. Charles Smith averaged 22 points per game over the Hoyas' three tournament games. The Hoyas were the No. 1 seed in the East Region of the 1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament – the 11th of 14 consecutive Georgetown NCAA tournament appearances. In their first round game against Ivy League champion Princeton, Smith shot only 2-for-12 from the field and the Hoyas barely escaped an upset. Princeton employed a 1950s-era offense and scored 14 of their 21 field goals off of layups off back-door screens, and, after Mourning blocked a last-second Princeton shot that some observers believed should have been called a personal foul against him, Georgetown barely eked out a 50–49 victory. In the second round, Smith scored 34 points to lead Georgetown to a win over Notre Dame, but he twisted his ankle, and the injury made him ineffective in the East Region semifinal against North Carolina State, in which he scored only a single point. Bryant scored a team-high 24 points and Jackson scored 17, however, and the Hoyas again emerged with a victory. In the East Region final, Georgetown faced the region's No. 2 seed, Duke. Smith scored 21 points and Tillmon 16, but Jackson managed only 1-for-10 shooting from the field. The Blue Devils, led by Danny Ferry and freshman Christian Laettner built an early lead that they never relinquished, and they knocked the Hoyas out of the tournament, bringing Georgetown's season to an end, with the 85–77 loss. The Hoyas were ranked No. 2 in the season's final Associated Press Poll and Coaches' Poll behind only Arizona. Although it was not apparent at the time, Duke's defeat of Georgetown signaled a change in the balance of power in men's college basketball. While Duke was on the rise entering the 1990s, the Hoyas' era of dominance was beginning to come to a close. Georgetown would not win the Big East tournament again until the 2007–08 team won in 2008, and before the 2007–08 team's Final Four appearance in the 2008 NCAA tournament, the Hoyas would make an Elite Eight appearance only once, when the 1995–96 team advanced to the East Region final of the 1996 NCAA tournament. ==Roster==

Source Freshman guard Ronny Thompson was the son of head coach John Thompson, Jr. ==Rankings==

Source ==1988–89 Schedule and results==

Sources The 66,144 people who attended the game the Hoyas played against Louisiana State at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 28, 1989, set the record for the largest crowd ever to attend a game involving Georgetown. • All times are Eastern ==See also==