1973–74 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

The 1973–74 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1973–74 NCAA Division I college basketball season. John Thompson, coached them in his second season as head coach. The team was an independent and played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C. A young and inexperienced team, it played inconsistently,[1] finished the season with a record of 13-13, and had no post-season play.

1973–74 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
ConferenceIndependent
Record13–13
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Bill Stein (2nd season)
  • Frank Fuqua (1st season)
Home arenaMcDonough Gymnasium
Seasons
1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 Notre Dame   26 3   .897
No. 8 Providence   28 4   .875
No. 16 Pittsburgh   25 4   .862
UNC Charlotte   22 4   .846
Centenary   21 4   .840
Marquette   26 5   .839
No. 19 South Carolina   22 5   .815
No. 18 Oral Roberts   23 6   .793
South Alabama   22 6   .786
Creighton   23 7   .767
St. John's   20 7   .741
Georgia Southern   19 7   .731
Southern Illinois   19 7   .731
Syracuse   19 7   .731
VCU   17 7   .708
Cincinnati   19 8   .704
Boston College   21 9   .700
Florida State   18 8   .692
Rutgers   18 8   .692
No. 20 Dayton   20 9   .690
Hawaii   19 9   .679
Jacksonville   20 10   .667
Manhattan   18 9   .667
Mercer   16 8   .667
Detroit   17 9   .654
Fairfield   17 9   .654
Houston   17 9   .654
Illinois State   17 9   .654
Marshall   17 9   .654
St. Bonaventure   17 9   .654
Stetson   17 9   .654
DePaul   16 9   .640
Memphis State   19 11   .633
Northeast Louisiana   16 10   .615
Utah State   16 10   .615
Colgate   15 10   .600
Portland State   16 11   .593
Seton Hall   16 11   .593
Pan American   13 9   .591
George Washington   15 11   .577
Portland   15 11   .577
Saint Francis (PA)   15 11   .577
Ball State   14 12   .538
Butler   14 12   .538
Canisius   14 12   .538
Milwaukee   14 12   .538
Penn State   14 12   .538
Northeastern   12 11   .522
Long Island   13 12   .520
Duquesne   12 12   .500
Georgetown   13 13   .500
Oklahoma City   13 13   .500
Virginia Tech   13 13   .500
Indiana State   12 14   .462
Loyola Chicago   12 14   .462
Niagara   12 14   .462
Tulane   12 14   .462
Air Force   11 13   .458
Iona   11 13   .458
St. Francis (NY)   11 13   .458
Fairleigh Dickinson   11 14   .440
Hardin-Simmons   11 14   .440
South Florida   11 14   .440
Denver   11 15   .423
Southern Mississippi   11 15   .423
Navy   9 13   .409
West Virginia   10 15   .400
Fordham   8 17   .320
Northern Illinois   8 17   .320
Eastern Michigan   8 18   .308
Holy Cross   8 18   .308
Saint Peter's   8 18   .308
Xavier   8 18   .308
Villanova   7 19   .269
Army   6 18   .250
Houston Baptist   6 19   .240
Cleveland State   6 20   .231
Samford   6 20   .231
Buffalo   5 20   .200
Georgia Tech   5 21   .192
Georgia State   1 25   .038
Rankings from AP Poll

Season recap

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Sophomore center Merlin Wilson had posted scoring and rebounding statistics unprecedented in Georgetown basketball history during his freshman year, drawing national attention. Opponents paid extra attention to defending against him this season, and foul trouble limited his performance in the early games. Thompson moved him to power forward in January 1974, and this allowed him to return to form, with 23 points and 16 rebounds against Chicago State and 23 rebounds each in games a week apart against Holy Cross and Penn State. He averaged 15.5 rebounds per game for the season, a school record still well beyond the average posted by any other Hoya.[2]

Sophomore guard Jonathan Smith led the team in scoring this season, finishing with 466 points, the third-highest total in a single season for a Georgetown player. He scored 20 or more points numerous times, averaged 25 points per game in the latter part of the season, and scored a season-high 32 points against Connecticut on February 16, 1974.[1]

Sophomore forward Bill Lynn had seen little action as a reserve the previous season, but a back injury to forward Mark Gallagher that ended Gallagher's Georgetown career gave Lynn more playing time this year. He finished the season second on the team in both scoring and rebounding with an average of 13 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, including 20 points and nine rebounds against 2nd-ranked Notre Dame and 28 points and 18 rebounds against Boston College.[3]

Freshman forward Larry Long scored a career-high 25 points against Boston College and finished the year averaging 7.1 points per game. He started every game, but an injury he suffered at St. Joseph's was the beginning of many injuries that would hamper him for the rest of his collegiate career.[4]

The 1973-74 squad was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time.[5][6] It was the last Georgetown men's basketball team to finish a season without a winning record until the 1998–99 season. It also was the last one to have no post-season play in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament or the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) until the 2001-02 team declined an invitation to the 2002 NIT, and the last one to receive no invitation to either the NCAA tournament or the NIT until the 2003-04 season.

Roster

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Source[1][2][3][4][7][8]

# Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous Team(s)
10 Tim Lambour 5'8" N/A G Sr. Altoona, PA, U.S. Bishop Guilfoyle HS
12 Alonzo Holloway 5'5" N/A G Fr. Washington, DC, U.S. St. Anthony's HS
14 Bill Lynn 6'9" 185 F So. Washington, DC, U.S. Spingarn HS
20 Mike Stokes 6'2" N/A G So. Washington, DC, U.S. St. John's College HS
22 Rick Kentz 6'1" N/A G Sr. Summit, NJ, U.S. Delbarton School
24 Emmet Fitzgerald 5'9" N/A G Fr. Philadelphia, PA, U.S. Malvern Preparatory School
30 Jonathan Smith 6'1" 185 G So. Washington, DC, U.S. St. Anthony's HS
32 Larry Long 6'7" 200 F Fr. Washington, DC, U.S. Mackin HS
34 Mike MacDermott 6'4" N/A G Fr. Saratoga Springs, NY, U.S. St. Peter HS
40 Greg Brooks 6'6" N/A G So. Washington, DC, U.S. St. Anthony's HS
42 Aaron Long 6'2" N/A G So. Washington, DC, U.S. St. Anthony's HS
44 Merlin Wilson 6'9" 215 C So. Washington, DC, U.S. St. Anthony's HS
50 Paul Robinson 6'6" N/A F Sr. New York, NY, U.S. DeWitt Clinton HS
52 Art Williamson 6'8" N/A F Fr. Cleveland, OH, U.S. University School

1973–74 schedule and results

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Sources[9][10][11][12]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Fri., Nov. 30, 1973
no, no
Saint Leo W 66–58  1-0
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sun., Dec. 2, 1973
no, no
Wheeling Jesuit W 84–72  2-0
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Dec. 5, 1973
no, no
at St. Bonaventure L 68–75  2-1
Reilly Center 
Olean, NY
Sat., Dec. 8, 1973
no, no
St. John's W 85–82 OT 3-1
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Tue., Dec. 11, 1973
no, no
at No. 4 Maryland L 83–115  3-2
Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
Wed., Jan. 2, 1974
no, no
Chicago State W 100–71  4-2
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 5, 1974
no, no
at Seton Hall L 78–81  4-3
Walsh Gymnasium 
South Orange, NJ
Wed., Jan. 9, 1974
no, no
at Navy L 55–56  4-4
Halsey Field House 
Annapolis, MD
Tue., Jan. 15, 1974
no, no
at No. 2 Notre Dame L 77–104  4-5
Athletic & Convocation Center 
Notre Dame, IN
Sat., Jan. 19, 1974
no, no
Boston University W 77–52  5-5
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Tue., Jan. 22, 1974
no, no
Fairfield L 71–75  5-6
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 26, 1974
no, no
Holy Cross L 70–73  5-7
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Tue., Jan. 29, 1974
no, no
Dickinson W 65–53  6-7
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Jan. 31, 1974
no, no
Siena W 70–56  7-7
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 2, 1974
no, no
Penn State W 63–58  8-7
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Tue., Feb. 5, 1974
no, no
at St. Joseph's L 64–70  8-8
Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse 
Philadelphia, PA
Sat., Feb. 9, 1974
no, no
Rutgers W 57–55  9-8
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Mon., Feb. 11, 1974
no, no
Assumption L 63–72  9-9
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Feb. 14, 1974
no, no
Loyola Maryland W 74–67  10-9
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 16, 1974
no, no
Connecticut
Rivalry
W 67–66  11-9
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Tue., Feb. 19, 1974
no, no
American W 77–68  12-9
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Feb. 21, 1974
no, no
at Saint Peter's W 88–73  13-9
Jersey City Armory 
Jersey City, NJ
Sat., Feb. 23, 1974
no, no
at Fordham L 62–64  13-10
Rose Hill Gymnasium 
Bronx, NY
Tue., Feb. 26, 1974
no, no
George Washington L 54–55  13-11
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Mar. 2, 1974
no, no
at Boston College L 68–92  13-12
Roberts Center 
Chestnut Hill, MA
Wed., Mar. 6, 1974
no, no
Saint Francis L 62–78  13-13
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 32. Jonathan Smith". Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 17. Merlin Wilson". Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 61. Bill Lynn". Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 97. Larry Long". Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  5. ^ sports-reference.com 1973-74 Independent Season Summary
  6. ^ sports-reference.com 1973-74 Polls
  7. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1970-71 to 1979-1980". Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  8. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers
  9. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1970s Seasons". Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  10. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  11. ^ sports-reference.com 1973-74 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results
  12. ^ 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 62.