Duke Wins 19th Straight ACC Home Opener, Defeats Georgia Tech, 85-79

Wednesday, December 31

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

12-1,1-0ACC

Georgia Tech

9-5,0-1ACC

Georgia Tech

Duke

Duke Wins 19th Straight ACC Home Opener, Defeats Georgia Tech, 85-79

12/31/2025 6:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Duke Quotes (PDF)Opponent Quotes (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 6 Duke won its ACC home opener for the 19th consecutive season, defeating Georgia Tech, 85-79, on Wednesday, Dec. 31. The Blue Devils (12-1, 1-0 ACC) move to 54-19 in ACC openers all-time, defeating the Yellow Jackets (9-5, 0-1 ACC) for the 20th time in the last 22 meetings.

All five Duke starters scored in double figures, led by Cameron Boozer's 26-point, 12-rebound double-double. Cayden Boozer finished one point shy of his career high, scoring 13 points, while logging a career-high 31 minutes and recording a career-best three steals in his first collegiate start.

Isaiah Evans was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line and added two three-pointers en route to 17 points. Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba II rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 and 11, respectively.

As a team, the Blue Devils finished with a 42-28 rebounding advantage, including a 21-5 edge on the offensive glass. Cameron Boozer finished with nine of Duke's offensive caroms, setting a new benchmark for individual offensive rebounds by a Blue Devil in a game this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The two teams traded early three-pointers, with Patrick Ngongba II connecting from the top of the key for Duke's first points of the afternoon. Isaiah Evans made his first triple, and Caleb Foster followed with a trifecta of his own to tie the game at 9-9.
Duke took its first lead of the contest, with Cameron Boozer converting from the free-throw line out of the first media timeout. The visitors responded with seven of the next 10 points and led by three, 16-13, before Boozer made his second straight three-pointer to tie the score.
Georgia Tech maintained a slight edge as the first half continued, with its lead moving between one and three points for nearly four minutes of action. The margin grew to as large as five, 29-24, before a floater by Cayden Boozer was followed by a fast-break dunk from his brother, Cameron Boozer.
Evans made a layup while getting fouled to push Duke back in front, 30-29, entering the under-eight break.
Six unanswered points by the Yellow Jackets flipped the lead once again, 35-31, with just over four minutes before halftime. Georgia Tech remained in front by the same margin, 43-39, at the break.
Cayden Boozer reached double figures with a three-point play at the 17:07 mark, narrowing Duke's deficit to just two, 52-50. A layup by Ngongba II leveled the score at the under-16 timeout.
The Blue Devils regained the lead, 56-54, courtesy of two free throws by Nikolas Khamenia, and expanded the advantage to five with a three-point play by Cameron Boozer.
Duke's defense held Georgia Tech without a made field goal for nearly seven minutes, a stretch of 0-for-10 from the field, which allowed the Blue Devils to maintain their lead.
A transition triple from Foster grew Duke's lead to its largest of the night, 70-63, and forced a Georgia Tech timeout with 8:10 remaining.
The Yellow Jackets inched within one possession, 75-73, after a triple with just under five minutes to play.
A mid-range jumper by Cayden Boozer made it a five-point game, 80-75, with less than 90 seconds to play. Cameron Boozer and Evans were perfect from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds, icing the 85-79 victory.

NOTES

Wednesday afternoon was the first ACC contest of the season for both schools.
- The Blue Devils are 54-19 (.740) in ACC openers and 61-12 (.836) in ACC home-openers.
- Duke has won 19 consecutive ACC home-openers, dating back to 2006-07.
Dating back to last season, Duke has won 24 consecutive games at home.
- The Blue Devils are now 55-3 (.948) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in four seasons under head coach Jon Scheyer.
- Duke has won 11 straight against ACC foes at home.
Wednesday afternoon was the 106th meeting in the all-time series between the two teams.
- Duke is 81-25 against Georgia Tech and has won 14 consecutive home games against the Yellow Jackets.
- The Blue Devils have won 20 of the last 22 meetings.
When playing on New Year's Eve, Duke holds a 16-3 record.
- Duke has won 12 of its last 13 contests on the final day of the calendar year, including four consecutive wins (2019, 2022, 2024, 2025).
- The Blue Devils are a perfect 8-0 when playing at home on New Year's Eve.
Duke snapped the Yellow Jackets' four-game winning streak.
The Yellow Jackets entered Wednesday afternoon ranked 40th nationally for field goal percentage defense (.395).
- Duke outpaced the visitors' top-40 defensive benchmark, finishing 26-of-64 (.406) from the field.
Duke out-rebounded Georgia Tech, 42-28.
- The Blue Devils have outrebounded their opponent in 10 games this season.
- Duke grabbed a season-high 21 offensive boards and have finished with at least 20 offensive caroms in two of its last three games (vs. Lipscomb, vs. Georgia Tech).
The Blue Devils finished with an advantage in two specialty stats, leading in second-chance points (15-0) and points in the paint (32-26).
- Wednesday marked the second time this season that Duke has held an opponent to zero second-chance points (vs. Lipscomb).
Duke finished the contest with 15 fouls and holds a record of 59-2 (.967) in four seasons under Scheyer when committing 15 or fewer fouls.
Twin brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer were both in the starting lineup on Wednesday afternoon.
- The two freshmen are the first set of brothers to start in a Duke game since Miles and Mason Plumlee both started on March 16, 2012.
- Cameron and Cayden are the first documented twins to start for Duke since Cedric and Garland Loftis were listed as "probable starters" on the 1942-43 Duke roster.
Cameron Boozer posted a 26-point, 12-rebound double-double.
- The freshman has seven double-doubles this season, including four with at least 20 points.
- Nine of Boozer's 12 rebounds were on the offensive end, the most offensive rebounds in a single game by a Blue Devil this season.
In his first career start, Cayden Boozer reached double figures, scoring 13 points, one shy of his career high.
- Boozer played a career-high 31 minutes, eclipsing his previous high of 27 minutes against Western Carolina on Nov. 8.
- The freshman also added a career-high three steals, while chipping in five rebounds and three assists.
Isaiah Evans tallied 17 points, fueled by a perfect 7-for-7 night at the free-throw line.
- Evans also reeled in five rebounds, while also tallying three steals.
Caleb Foster scored 12 points, his fifth game this season with at least 10 points.
- Foster fueled his scoring with three 3-pointers, his second game with at least three makes from deep this season and the seventh in his career.
- When Foster makes at least three triples, Duke is 6-1.
- Foster led the team in assists with four helpers.
Patrick Ngongba II was the fifth Blue Devil in double figures, scoring 11 points. The sophomore finished one rebound shy of a double-double with nine caroms.
Maliq Brown played in his 100th career game.
- Brown played 61 games at Syracuse before transferring to Duke ahead of the 2024-25 season.
- He is one of two players on Duke's roster to reach the century mark for games played, joining Cameron Sheffield's 113 appearances.
- Brown was credited with three takeaways against the Yellow Jackets, his second consecutive game with at least three steals. Across his 100 career appearances, the forward has finished with at least three steals in 18 of them.

QUOTES

"Like always, Damon [Stoudamire] and Georgia Tech, they were really ready to play. Gave us everything we could handle. I'm proud of our guys figuring out a way to win. I feel a little bad for them … like it's expected that we're just supposed to roll through everybody we play. That's not the reality. I thought we did a lot of tough things to win. Our defense, to me, is the first thing I look at. Giving up 68% [in the first half], that's two halves in a row, so we have to address that. I'm proud of the ability to figure out a way to win against a Georgia Tech team that was incredibly ready to play. And they're very talented, so we'll learn from this. We move on very quickly. My thing for our guys is to appreciate every win you get and appreciate every opportunity because it's difficult." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
"I feel like we should've come out more hungry and more with an attitude. I don't think we started out that way. We've got to figure that out. I think we just have to figure it out on us as a team. It can't really be the coaches." - Duke sophomore guard/forward Isaiah Evans
"I feel like it's the same. Obviously, it's a great achievement to be a starter, but, at the end of the day, it's the people that close the game out that really matters. Starting or not, it doesn't really matter, as long as you're doing what the team needs you to do. Obviously, it's a great thing to be able to start here in front of our fans for the first time and win a tough game against a good Georgia Tech team. It was a fun game to play in." - Duke freshman guard Cayden Boozer

UP NEXT

No. 6 Duke (12-1, 1-0 ACC) travels to Florida State (7-7, 0-1 ACC) for its first road conference game.
The Blue Devils and Seminoles tip off at 3:45 p.m., on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. The game will broadcast live on CBS.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMBB".

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