The team's penchant for playing tight games decided in the last seconds led to it being nicknamed the Heart Attack Hoyas.

He had 16 points against United States International, 23 against American, 24 against Boston College, 30 against Wagner, 22 against Detroit, 30 against George Washington, and 21 against Holy Cross.

[note 1] During the December 5 game between the Hoyas and the Terrapins, John Thompson and Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell got into a shouting match at midcourt.

Georgetown won seven games by five or fewer points, and four of its six losses came in the final seconds or in overtime, leading the team to become known as the "Heart Attack Hoyas" because of the nervous stress they supposedly caused their fans.

[9] Georgetown scored on a layup, stole the ball and scored on another layup, and then freshman guard Eric Smith, who shot 9-for-10 from the free-throw line during the game, sank two free throws after a Boston College offensive foul to narrow Boston College's lead to two.

Even though four Hoyas had fouled out by the end of overtime, Georgetown pulled out a 97-92 victory before a national ESPN television audience.

In his post-game press conference, John Thompson exulted, "Manley Field House is officially closed."

That quote, combined with Georgetown's upset victory on an historic evening in Syracuse basketball, is credited as the beginning of the great Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry that would be one of the defining features of the original Big East Conference for the rest of its 34-year existence.

[2][3][10] The Hoyas finished the season with a record of 5-1 in Big East play, giving them a share of the conference's first regular-season championship along with St. John's and Syracuse.

[2] In the second round, they faced an Iona team coached by Jim Valvano and led by center and power forward Jeff Ruland which between the regular season and its championship-winning run in the 1980 ECAC Metro Region tournament had compiled a 29-4 record.

With seven seconds left in the game and the Hoyas leading 80-79, Shelton was called for a foul against Iowa's Steve Waite; Waite scored both his free throws to give the Hawkeyes an 81-80 upset victory and bring the Heart Attack Hoyas' season to an end with one final last-second decision.

[9] Shelton finished his collegiate career as the third-highest-scoring player in Georgetown history despite having played in only seven games in his freshman year.