Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from Blue Devils big win over Kentucky

Duke Basketball opened up Mike Krzyzewski’s final season in style, with a 79-71 win over No. 10 Kentucky in Madison Square Garden. Unless the two meet again next March, Coach K will finish his career 6-2 all-time vs the Wildcats. As a program, Duke is now 10-10 all-time vs Kentucky, joining Marquette (.636), UNC (.579), Michigan State (.538), and Saint Louis (.500) as the only teams ≥.500 vs UK all-time (min. 10 games played).

Although Paolo Banchero (22 pts, 7 reb, .636 eFG) and Wendell Moore, Jr. (12 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, .600 eFG) were both terrific, Trevor Keels stole the show on opening night. The freshman guard finished with 25 points on 63.9% shooting from the field.

We knew that Keels was special heading into the season—I had him second in my preseason ACC Freshman rankings (behind Banchero)—but he was the best player on a clear top 10 team in the country on Tuesday night. He can get his shot whenever he wants it, can convert from all three levels, and relishes the opportunity to lock down the other team’s best player defensively.

Two transfers were the stars for Kentucky in C Oscar Tshiebwe and PG Sahvir Wheeler, from West Virginia and Georgia, respectively. Tshiebwe dominated the game physically, finishing with 17 points and 19 boards, including 12 (!!) offensive rebounds. Wheeler dropped 16 points and 10 assists, although he also had seven turnovers and shot just 6-15 from the field.

In a battle of the bluest of bloods—both loaded with talent—Duke came out on top. Here are three things we learned from the Blue Devils opening night victory.