Paolo Banchero, Trevor Keels Shine in Scrimmages at Duke Midnight Madness 2021

Duke men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski's final season patrolling the Blue Devils sidelines started getting underway Friday with the 12th annual Countdown to Craziness event from Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

The Blue Devils played a pair of 12-minute intrasquad scrimmages split between "Duke Blue" and "Duke White."

Here's how those matchups went down as Duke gears up for its regular-season opener against Kentucky at the State Farm Champions Classic in New York on Nov. 9.

     

Game 1: Duke Blue 22, Duke White 22

The rosters for the first game were as follows, with the Blue team on top, per Brendan Marks of The Athletic:

Trevor Keels and Joey Baker each led the Blue team with seven points, and Jeremy Roach added six assists. Keels' four rebounds guided his squad.

Wendell Moore Jr.'s seven points proved to be the top White team mark. Mark Williams added four points and six boards, and Paolo Banchero had six points.

Here's a look at some of Banchero's efforts:

Neither team ever ran away with this one before settling for the 22-all result. Blue led by as many as four, and White had a five-point edge, but neither was able to lead by more than two possessions.

The lead changed hands four times, and the score was tied on six occasions. In the end, a tie was how this one ended.

    

Game 2: Duke White 34, Duke Blue 14

The second game ended with a far different result, and these were the rosters, with the blue team on top:

Marks also noted that he believed the White team's five would "probably" be the Blue Devils' starting lineup.

This time around, the White team cruised to a 34-14 win led by 12 points from Keels and 11 more via Mark Williams. Those two combined to shoot 9-of-12.

Keels also added three assists and two steals. Williams and Banchero co-led the White team with four boards, with the latter player also getting three dimes.

Moore Jr. (six points) and Banchero (five) rounded out the scoring for a White team that never trailed, shot 13-of-21 and scored 12 points off turnovers.

Theo John's seven points on 3-of-4 shooting led the Blue team. The rest of the squad had just seven points on 3-of-16 shooting. The Blue team also made just 1-of-10 three-pointers.

Overall, it was a fine showing from many Blue Devils. Brian McLawhorn of Bull City Hoops provided his takes:

Coach K also praised Keels, who led all players with 19 total points:

Marks also praised Moore after the games:

Before the UK matchup, Duke will play an exhibition contest against Winston-Salem State at home Saturday, October 30.