Georgetown Hoyas End 21-Game Losing Streak with OT Win
Posted on: November 9, 2022, 10:10h.
Last updated on: November 9, 2022, 03:36h.
Patrick Ewing and the Georgetown Hoyas won their season opener with a 99-89 victory in overtime against Coppin State to snap a 21-game losing streak.
Ewing and Georgetown won their first game since late December last season when they defeated Howard on Dec. 15, 2021.
The great thing about this year, about now, is it’s a new year,” Ewing said after the game. “We’re starting off fresh. We have to make sure that we get and stay on track from start to finish and make sure that we are positive and upbeat and all the things that we talked about from this summer.”
Georgetown lost their last 20 games in the regular season and was then eliminated in the first round of the Big East Tournament. The horrible Hoyas went 0-19 in the Big East conference last season, finishing 6-25 overall.
Despite a disastrous 2021-22 season, the Hoyas retained Ewing as their head coach.
Ewing Seeks to Restore Georgetown to Elite Status
The Hoyas dominated college basketball in the early 1980s under renowned head coach John Thompson. Ewing, arguably the greatest player ever to wear a Georgetown uniform, led the Hoyas to three trips to the Final Four and one national championship. Ewing went on to become the #1 pick in the 1985 NBA Draft when the New York Knicks won the first NBA Draft Lottery.
After a Hall of Fame career in the NBA, mainly with the rough and tumble Knicks, Ewing pivoted to coaching. He spent 15 seasons as an assistant coach in the NBA before he returned to his alma mater to accept his first head coaching position in 2017.
Since joining Georgetown in 2017, Ewing struggled to restore the Hoyas to their former glory. He had one winning season in his five years with Georgetown while amassing a 68-84 record. Georgetown qualified for the March Madness tournament only once and was knocked out in the first round during his tenure.
Georgetown is one of the long shots to win the Big East this season at +20000 odds, according to DraftKings.
Georgetown 99, Coppin State 89 in OT
Coppin State dropped their first game of the season on Sunday night in an 82-59 loss against Charlotte. They remained on the road and headed to the nation’s capital to battle Georgetown on Election Day. Georgetown was installed as a -18.5 favorite to win their season-opener at Capitol One Arena in downtown Washington.
Coppin State held its own in the first half, and Georgetown led by just two points at halftime. Both teams shot better in the second half, but Coppin State led late in the game and almost pulled off a huge upset.
Coppin State shot 20 more 3-pointers than Georgetown and finished 13-for-38 from beyond the arc for a 34.2% success rate. Georgetown knocked down 39% of their 3-pointers on 7-for-18 from downtown.
Senior shooting guard Mike Hood knocked down a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.
Georgetown outgunned Coppin State in overtime 16-6 and locked up a 10-point victory in overtime. Georgetown failed to cover the spread, but they finally ended their losing streak.
Ewing used a short rotation for Georgetown, with six players and four of his starters logging at least 42 minutes. Sophomore guard Amir “Primo” Spears led all scorers with 28 points. Senior forward Bryson Mozone scored seven of his 20 points in overtime. Junior forward Akok Akok scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.
Senior guard Justin Steers led Coppin State with 21 points off the bench in only 28 minutes of floor time.
Georgetown hosts Green Bay on Saturday and Northwestern next Tuesday.
Coppin State will play its first home game of the season against Mount St. Mary’s on Friday before facing Navy at home on Monday.
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