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
Conference	Independent
Record	13–13
Head coach	John Thompson (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Bill Stein (2nd season) Frank Fuqua (1st season)
Home arena	McDonough Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1972–73 1974–75 →

1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings

v t e	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 Mercy		–			–			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

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

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

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

1. . Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
2. . Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
3. . Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
4. . 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. . Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
8. The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers
9. . Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
10. . 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.