6th Ranked Duke, Georgia Tech Are Tipping Off Atlantic Coast Conference Play Wednesday Afternoon On New Year's Eve In Durham

6th ranked Duke, Georgia Tech are tipping off Atlantic Coast Conference play Wednesday afternoon on New Year’s Eve in Durham.

Where?

On the hardwood!

Duke comes into the first Atlantic Coast Conference game of the regular season on New Years Eve with record of 11-1 because eleven days ago at Madison Square Garden then 3rd ranked Duke sustained their first loss of season that was an 82-81 loss to then 19th ranked Texas Tech.

In the 82-81 loss to then 19th ranked Texas Tech s a team Duke shot 59 % on free throw line.

Cameron Boozer a freshman forward was 9-14 on free throws. Patrick Ngongba II a sophomore a center was 2-5 on on free throws . Isaiah Evans a sophomore a guard was 2-3 on free throws . Cayden Boozer a freshman a guard was 1-2 on free throws. Darren Harris a sophomore a guard was 2-2 on free throws. While Duke shot 59 % on free throws Texas Tech meanwhile shot 11-17 on free throws for 65 % . JT. Toppin a forward a junior was 3-7 on free throws. Donovan Atwell a senior a guard was 2-2 on free throws. Christian Anderson a guard a sophomore was 4-6 on free throws . Leon Horner sophomore a guard was 2-2 on free throws.

Following 3rd ranked Duke suffering their first loss of 2025-2026 season Cameron Boozer shared his thoughts on free throws by saying Gotta knock ‘em down,”

Following 3rd ranked Duke suffering their first loss of 2025-2026 season Head Coach Jon Scheyer shared his thoughts by saying “I thought we got a little stagnant,”We’ve been great down the stretch, but tonight they made one more play than us.

According to Chip Alexander News & Observer article https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article313722152.html

Georgia Tech comes into the first Atlantic Coast Conference games of the season on New Year’s Eve with record of 9-4 because unlike Duke Georgia Tech won their final non-conference game of the season on Sunday December 28, 2025 in Atlanta Georgia beating Florida A &M 89-65. In Georgia Tech’s 89-65 win over Florida A& M as a team Georgia Tech shot 33-54 for 61 % on field goals, 6-11 on 3 pointers for 55 % 17-22 on free throws for 77 %. Six players scored in double figures. Baye Ndongo a junior a forward was 7-11 on field goals , 1-1 on 3 pointers to go along 11 rebounds, 5 assists , 3 steals, 3 blocks , 15 points . Kowacie Reeves Jr. a senior a forward was 4-7 on field goals , 1-4 on 3 pointers , 2-3 on free throws to go along with 1 rebound, 1 assists , 1 steal 11 points. Mouhamed Sylla a freshman a center was 4-8 on field goals , 3-4 on 3 pointers to go along with 8 rebounds ,2 blocks. Lamar Washington a senior a guard was 5-8 on field goals , 0-1 on 3 pointers to go along 7 rebounds, 8 assists , 2 steals , 10 points. Akai Fleming a freshman guard was 3-4 on field goals , 1-1 on 3 pointers , 5-6 on free throws to go along with 2 rebounds, 1 assists , 1 steal , 12 points.

According to espn app

Following Georgia Tech’s 89-65 win over Florida A& M Sunday Head Coach Damon Stoudamire shared his thoughts by saying I thought we did a lot of good things, excuse me, in this game. I love this, you know, I love playing it, you know, saving the game to play before uh before conference play because I think it's important. I think you, you know, just having a bunch of practices, I don't know how, you know, sometimes you can get better that way. You know, guys cheating plays, guys doing different things, and you know how it goes. This was a good game for us to come out here and play. I know that A&M was short a couple of players. I just thought we did a good job early in setting the tone with our inside guys.  Mo (Sylla) and Baye (Ndongo) thought they did a good job in the first half. We were sharing the ball. Second half, I didn't like it as much. We turned the ball over way too much, you know, but I'm not going to make a big deal out of that. The most important thing is. We just have to continue to keep getting better. Yes, 20 turnovers is not what we need, but I can just see our team growing in a lot of different ways. I think we're trending in the right direction. So, I'm excited about that. Um, you know, I'll, you know, I'll single out one guy. I'll single out Chaz Kelly, and it's not because he went five for five and two for two for the three. That's the reward. But like, you know, for the last, you know, three weeks, I just think he's been really good and solid and. He's understood the assignment of what we need out there on the floor, and I thought he did a good job, you know, again this evening. So, he got some payback for a lot of things tonight, but you know, really happy for him to do the things he was doing out there.” 

According to Najeh Wilkins Sports Illustrated article https://www.si.com/college/georgiatech/basketball/everything-from-head-coach-damon-stoudamire-after-an-89-65-win-over-florida-a-m-01kdkrs89095

Tip- off is set for 4:00pm Eastern Time from Cameron Indoor Stadium!

The game is going to be televised on ACC Network with Jay Alter, Randolph Childress commentating!

Jay Alter joined ESPN in 2018, calling various college sports including football, basketball and lacrosse, as well as contributing to NFL coverage on ESPN Radio. In addition to college sports, Alter also calls Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) games on ABC and ESPN platforms.

Prior to ESPN, Alter served as a host, play-by-play commentator and reporter for the BIG EAST Digital Network. He was also a weekend sports anchor for News12 (CT) in 2016.

Alter graduated from Syracuse University in 2016 with a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism. He currently resides in Darien, Conn. with his wife, Liz, and daughter, Ellie.

According to https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/jay-alter/

Randolph Childress is a former Wake Forest guard who played in 120 career games averaged 18.4 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game , 3.9 assists per game while shooting 44.6 % on field goals , 39.5 % on 3 pointers, 80.4 % on free throws. Following his playing career at Wake Forest Randolph Childress went on to be drafted in 1st round of 1995 NBA Draft as 19th overall pick, selection before going on to play 3 seasons in NBA where he would play two seasons for Portalnd one season for Detroit.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/randolph-childress-1.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/childra01.html

Following playing professionally in the NBA Randolph Childress would go on to coach at Wake Forest as at his collegiate alma mater where he would coach 10 seasons as Assistant Coach before stepping away from that position on April 7, 2021. At the time of stepping away from Assistant Coach position Randolph Childress had this to say!

I love coaching and Wake Forest, and I treasure the relationships my family and I have with Deacon Nation,"and Wake Forest, and I treasure the relationships my family and I have with Deacon Nation," Childress said. "With the support of my wife Tabetha, we feel that this is the right time for me to step away and explore other opportunities. I am proud of the role I have served in helping young men be successful on and off the court. I look forward to continuing to serve my community and will always support Wake Forest Athletics."

“According to article by Wake Forest Athletic Communications”