Mike Krzyzewski's farewell tour with Duke officially began on Tuesday night, and his youngest players delivered big-game performances in the world's most famous arena.
Behind a combined 47 points from freshmen sensations Paolo Banchero and Trevor Keels, the No. 9 Blue Devils opened the regular season on a high note, defeating No. 10 Kentucky, 79-71, in the nightcap of the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. It was Krzyzewski's 45th opening win in 47 seasons.
"The bigger story may be his team. I was really impressed with Duke tonight," CBS Sports college writer David Cobb told After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Wednesday. "Obviously, Paolo Banchero was fantastic, but who was really surprising was Trevor Keels, who we thought was going to be a good player. But he comes out in his college debut and leads all scorers with 25 points and honestly just looks like a tank out there. Not a freshman by any stretch.
"This Duke team was a lot better in an opening night, big-game environment than I might've expected... This team is still pretty young, as evidenced by the fact that their two leading scorers were true freshmen. So, I was impressed with how they handled that moment. If they're going to legitimately be a top-10 team, that'll give us something else to talk about, other than just the fact that this is Coach K's final season."
Banchero, a top-three recruit, is currently projected as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. For a big man -- he's listed at 6-foot-10, 250 pounds -- Banchero is gifted with a guard's skillset, comfortable with taking jump shots from wide ranges and penetrating to the basket. The 18-year-old scored his 22 points on 7 of 11 shooting, and also added seven rebounds.
As for Keels, who's another five-star recruit, he also performed like a potential draft lottery pick. The 6-foot-4 jumbo guard scored 16 of his 25 points during the second half, and took full advantage of his size on both ends of the court. After the game, Krzyzewski told reporters that, if Keels was a running back, "he would know how to pick holes."
Duke will play its home opener on Friday night against Army, which happens to be Krzyzewski's alma mater. According to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, the Blue Devils are currently projected as a three-seed for March Madness.
The entire conversation between Cobb and Lawrence can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow After Hours With Amy Lawrence on Twitter @ALawRadio and @AfterHoursCBS, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.