As Georgetown men's basketball struggles, optimistic coach Patrick Ewing still 'hoping that I'll be back'

WASHINGTON — R.J. Cole scored 18 points and No. 21 UConn excelled from behind the arc while sending Georgetown to its school-record 18th straight loss, 86-77 on Sunday.

With the loss, the Hoyas clinched their first last-place finish in the Big East since the league began in the 1979-80 season and are now closing in on both a school record for losses and the record for conference losses in a season.

Indeed, last year's improbable four-day run to the Hoyas' record eighth conference tournament title seems so long ago, as questions continue to be raised about the future of coach Patrick Ewing.

«Of course, I want to be back here,» Ewing said when asked about his future. «But in this position and this job, whatever happens will happen. I'm hoping that I'll be back and doing something that I love at a place that I love and getting us back to being the king of the hill.»

Ewing — a fixture in Big East history as a player and among the most recognized and revered Hoyas of all time — has not been able sustain consistency on the Georgetown bench. With the loss to the Huskies, the Hoyas (6-22, 0-17 Big East) remained winless in conference play, and his career record fell to 68-81. He has just one winning season in his five at the helm of his alma mater.

Those results are affecting Georgetown's gate, as well. A crowd of just 7,114 fans, in fact, watched the Hoyas lose to the Huskies, pushing Georgetown's home-game average this season to just 5,855.

And it just goes to show how quickly fates can change in college basketball. Thirteen months ago, the Hoyas defeated Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall and Creighton at Madison Square Garden to win the conference and seal a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Hoyas lost to Colorado, 96-73, in the