Their record earned them a bye in the first round of the 1997 Big East men's basketball tournament, and they advanced to the semifinals before losing to Boston College.

The graduation of center Othella Harrington and forward Jerome Williams in May 1996 and the departure of guard Allen Iverson after his sophomore season the previous year left the Hoyas with an uncertain lineup for 1996-97.

Thompson hoped that freshman forward Shamel Jones and junior guard-forward Jerry Nichols would fill the gaps, but they did not rise to the occasion.

With Harrington and Williams gone, however, junior forward Boubacar Aw became the leader in the frontcourt, scoring in 29 of the team's 30 games.

The team opened 8-1, but despite Page's efforts, it fell to 11-7 overall and a 4-6 conference record with an 89-71 loss at USAir Arena to Pittsburgh on January 25, 1997.

[7] The Villanova win began a February streak that turned the Hoyas' season around; they won eight of their last nine regular-season games.

Four days after beating Villanova, they visited St. John's at Madison Square Garden and Page, after missing his first nine shots, scored the game winner as Georgetown prevailed 71-68.

In the semifinals, Boston College's defense held Page to 18 points, and the Eagles beat the Hoyas on their way to winning the tournament championship.

Aw scored a career-high 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds before fouling out, but the 49ers' defense held Page to 7-for-22 (31.8%) shooting from the field, and Charlotte won 79-67 to knock Georgetown out of the tournament.