To say that the atmosphere in the building leading up to tipoff for this one was electric would be an understatement. That theme would continue throughout the night. This one had the feel of a late March/early April game.
There was a high level of intensity on the floor from the opening tip. Neither team was able to create any real separation in the early going. At the under 16:00 timeout, Duke held the early 7-6 edge.
Duke jumped out to a 13-8 lead at the 13:44 mark after a dunk from Trevor Keels. Keels was terrific in the early going, scoring four points and dishing out an assist in the opening 6 minutes while playing stellar defense. Kentucky would quickly answer with a 5-0 run to tie the game.
Kentucky’s next points would come after Oscar Tshiebwe pulled down an offensive rebound and made a layup, a theme that was all too familiar. Duke struggled mightily keeping Oscar Tshiebwe off the glass. He generated several second chance points for the Wildcats before picking up his second foul with 7:50 left to play in the first half. He would sit for the remainder of the half.
At the 6:54 mark, Duke led 25-23. Paolo Banchero would then score the next six points for Duke. He ignited a run that would help Duke build its largest lead of the half, seven, with 0:38 left to play after two Joey Baker free throws put Duke in front 39-32. Kellan Grady answered with an important three for Kentucky on the following position bring Kentucky back within four. At the half, Duke led 39-35.
Duke got off to a slow start in the second half. At the 18:33 mark, a three pointer from Keion Brooks gave Kentucky their first lead of the game, 42-41. Thanks in large part to Trevor Keels, Duke was quickly able to recapture the lead. With 15:27 to play, Duke led 51-48. Paolo Banchero left the game in the early moments of the half, followed by Wendell Moore. Both were dealing with cramps.
Despite being short-handed, Duke was able to not only maintain, but extend their lead. Seven minutes into the second half, Duke took a 59-50 lead, their largest lead of the game at the time. With Moore and Banchero sidelined, Trevor Keels took over. He would soon leave with cramps as well.
Paolo Banchero returned at the 11:52 mark with Duke leading 63-52. After knocking down a couple midrange jumpers, his cramping issues returned. Duke was maintaining a double digit lead with arguably their three best players on the night battling cramp issues.
Kentucky would answer with a major run of their own. After Duke’s lead got to as big as 13, Kentucky cut the lead to four with 6:09 to play. All of a sudden, Kentucky was right back in it. In what was a consistent theme all night, Trevor Keels and Paolo Banchero made huge plays to answer. A three point play from Banchero put Duke back up 74-65 with 4:26 to play.
After surviving the surge from Kentucky, Duke was able to comfortably close this game out. Duke walked away with the 79-71 win.
Six Observations:
Defensive ball pressure
Duke’s on ball defense was excellent for the most part. The ball pressure from the defense was relentless and often prevented Kentucky from getting into their offensive sets when they wanted to. Duke was rarely beaten off the dribble and played with energy and effort on the defensive end consistently. If Duke can maintain this on ball pressure all year, it could be a terrific season for the Blue Devils.
Fabulous Freshmen
Paolo Banchero and Trevor Keels were absolutely sensational.
On both ends of the floor, this Freshmen duo was a force. Time and time again, one of these two players made plays when Duke needed it the most. They were both unstoppable for the entire night. Not only are these two incredibly skilled, but they physically dominant as well. If this continues, these two may emerge as the best duo in the country.
Paolo Banchero finished with 22 points and seven rebounds on 7/11 from the field while Trevor Keels finished with 25 points and three assists on 10/18 from the field.
Rebounding issues
As alluded to earlier, Duke could not keep Kentucky, specifically Oscar Tshiebwe off the glass. The Wildcats finished with 16 offensive rebounds on the night. Many of those were inexcusable for Duke and could have easily been prevented simply by boxing out.
A team with the front court that Duke has should not struggle on the boards. Tshiebwe is one of the best rebounders in the country, but Duke should have done a much better job of containing him on the glass. On a night where there plenty of positives, this was one of the few negatives.
Theo John plays more than Mark Williams
This game is a perfect example of why having Theo John on the bench is such a luxury for this Duke team. When Mark Williams is struggling/in foul trouble like was the case on Tuesday night, Duke can insert Theo John in the game and still get excellent center play.
John was terrific for Duke, and made some timely plays when Banchero was out with cramps. He played 22 minutes on the night compared to 18 from Mark Williams.
Lack of threes
Duke made just one three pointer on the night, finishing 1/12 from beyond the arc. The fact that Duke was able to win this game against a top 10 team despite just one made three is impressive.
Duke will need to be better from three moving forward, but tonight showed they can be dangerous offensively even without making threes. The good news for Duke is that based on physical nature of this team, they will be able to get good looks from in close whenever they want.
Confident team
This is a confident looking team. The way they carry themselves on the floor exudes a confidence and a swagger that was lacking last season. They look like they love the big stage. This team enjoys getting after it defensively and attacks relentlessly. The edge they played with was noticeable.