Jan. 23, 2006

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University men's basketball team is ranked No. 21 in the country in the latest top-25 poll released by the Associated Press on Monday afternoon.

The Hoyas moved into the top-25 after posting an 87-84 win over No. 1 Duke on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,035 at the MCI Center. It was the team's first win over a No. 1-ranked team since beating St. John's, 85-69, on February 27, 1985, and their first win over a ranked team since beating then No. 10 Pittsburgh last year, 67-64, in the BIG EAST Conference season opener.

This is the first time Georgetown has been ranked among the top-25 teams since December 21, 2001, when the team was ranked 20th in the country.

The Hoyas, who went 2-0 last week, have won 11 of their last 13 games and are 12-4 overall (3-2 BIG EAST).

Georgetown was one of seven BIG EAST schools ranked among the top-25 by the Associated Press, joining new No. 1 Connecticut, Villanova (No. 6), West Virginia (No. 9), Pittsburgh (No. 12), Louisville (No. 22) and Syracuse (No. 25). It is the first time in BIG EAST history that seven conference members have been ranked among the top-25, and it is only the fifth time in the history that a conference has seven schools in that group (the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference have done it twice).

The Hoyas also received 38 votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Poll, placing the team 27th in the country.

Georgetown shot a season-best 61.5 percent from the field in Saturday's win over Duke and were led by senior forward Brandon Bowman (Santa Monica, Calif./Westchester), who scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds in the win. As a result, Bowman was named to the BIG EAST's Weekly Honor Roll.

He is the third Hoya player to earn weekly honors, as sophomore center Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep) was named the Player of the Week in November, and senior guard Ashanti Cook (Inglewood, Calif./Westchester) was named to the honor roll in December.

Bowman leads the Hoyas in scoring with 11.9 points per game, is tied for second on the team in rebounding with 5.5 boards per game and has helped the team rank first in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (49.1%) and second in the league in scoring defense, allowing only 59.8 points per contest. He is averaging 16.6 points and 6.7 rebounds in the last three games.

The Hoyas return to action on Tuesday night, playing at Notre Dame (10-6, 1-4 BIG EAST). The game, which tips off at the Joyce Convocation Center at 7 p.m., will be shown on ESPNU, with Ted Robinson and Donny Marshall calling the action. It can also be heard live on SportsTalk 980 AM, with Rich Chvotkin calling the action.