Yellow Jackets and Blue Devils tip off at 2:15 p.m. Saturday at McCamish Pavilion
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GEORGIA TECH (3-2, 0-0 ACC) vs. DUKE (5-2, 0-0 ACC)
Saturday, December 2, 2023 | 2:15 p.m. ET | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish PavilionTelevision: The CW / Peachtree TV in Atlanta (Announcers: Tom Werme, Mike Gminski)
Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan) | SiriusXM channel 383
Other ways to listen: SiriusXM app | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn
Announcers: Andy Demetra, Randy Waters
Live Stats: Statbroadcast.com
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THE FLATS – Fresh off a home court victory over a top-25 team earlier this week, Georgia Tech opens Atlantic Coast Conference play at home Saturday afternoon, hosting No. 7 Duke at 2:15 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.
Tech (3-2) stopped a two-game skid Tuesday night by defeating No. 21 Mississippi State, 67-59, in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Yellow Jackets played their best defensive game of the season in shaking off losses to UMass Lowell and Cincinnati. Tech began its first season under head coach Damon Stoudamire with a pair of home court victories over Georgia Southern on Nov. 6 (84-62) and a come-from-behind 88-85 win over Howard on Nov. 9, and is 3-1 at home.
Duke (5-2) is playing its second straight true road game after falling at Arkansas, 80-75, Wednesday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Blue Devils have played one other power conference team, dropping a 78-73 decision to current No. 2 Arizona at home in their second game of the season.
Saturday’s game will be televised live on the The CW (Peachtree TV in Atlanta). Radio coverage is on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM). The Tech broadcast is also available on the SiriusXM app and SiriusXM channel 386.
THE TIP-OFF
• Georgia Tech is playing six of its first eight games of the 2023-24 season at home. The Jackets traveled to Cincinnati last Wednesday (an 89-54 loss), and visit Georgia next Tuesday.
• Tech is looking to win its first ACC opener since the 2020-21 season, when the Yellow Jackets captured a 72-67 win at home over North Carolina. The Jackets have opened with losses to the Tar Heels each of the last two years.
• Tech opens its ACC slate against Duke for the first time since the 2011-12 season, when the Yellow Jackets took the Bue Devils to the limit in an 81-74 defeat at State Farm Arena.
• Duke is the second of two top-25 teams that Georgia Tech is facing this week. Tech scored a 67-59 win Tuesday over Mississippi State, ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press poll, No. 22 in the coaches’ rankings, while Duke is No. 7 in both. The Yellow Jackets have not faced two ranked teams this early in the season since 2020-21 (No. 20 Kentucky and No. 15 Florida State in the first five games, which the Jackets split).
• Tech is in the midst of playing four consecutive games against power conference opponents - Cincinnati (Nov. 22), Mississippi State (Nov. 28), Duke (Dec. 2) and Georgia (Dec. 5), and will face a fifth on Dec. 16 (Penn State).
• Tech is facing five guaranteed non-conference opponents that won 20 or more games in the 2022-23 season, including four that played in the post-season. Mississippi State (21-13), Penn State (23-14) and Howard (22-13) all played in the NCAA Tournament last season, while Cincinnati (23-13), a new member of the Big 12, reached the quarterfinals of the NIT. UMass Lowell (26-8) finished second in the America East Conference. The Yellow Jackets potentially could play two more 20-win teams in the Diamond Head Classic, with a possible game against Hawai’i (21-11) in the second round and TCU (22-13) in the final round.
• Tech has yet to play a game with its full complement of 13 scholarship players due to injury. Senior guard Lance Terry, Tech’s second-leading scorer last season, has been sidelined the entire season, while freshman forward Baye Ndongo missed the first three games. Sophomore forward Tafara Gapare has missed the last two games.
• Three of Tech’s four freshmen have now seen action for the Yellow Jackets. Forward Ibrahima Sacko has played in all five games, averaging 16 minutes, while forward Baye Ndongo and guard Naithan George debuted at Cincinnati and have played the last two.
• Tech’s four returning scholarship players - Miles Kelly, Lance Terry, Dallan “Deebo” Coleman and Kyle Sturdivant - accounted for 59.4 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ points and 56.5 percent of the minutes during the 2022-23 season. They collectively shot 35.6 percent from three-point range. This season the group (minus Terry) has accounted for 53.8 percent of the points and 38.6 percent of the minutes.
