AMES, Iowa _ Standing at center court, Devonte Graham accepted a pass from Malik Newman, who was seated near the Hilton Coliseum scorer's table, and after a 360-degree spin, calmly swished a halfcourt shot to conclude Kansas' basketball shootaround on Tuesday at Iowa State's arena.
Oh yes, Graham moonwalked after the shot, KU's basketball account capturing the sequence on Twitter.
The fun continued into the night for the 13th-ranked Jayhawks, who downed Iowa State 83-77 to snap a funk in which they had lost two of their past three games.
Udoka Azubuike scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, while Lagerald Vick snapped a slump with 16 points for Kansas. Malik Newman contributed 17 points, and Graham totaled 13 points with six rebounds and five assists for KU, which improved to 20-6 overall and 9-4 in the Big 12. Iowa State fell to 13-12, 4-9. KU remained a game back of Texas Tech in the standings as the Red Raiders also won Tuesday.
Also, Svi Mykhailiuk, who had three points his last two games, scored 10 points for KU, which hit 9 of 26 3s to Iowa State's 3 of 16.
Cameron Lard scored 19 points, Zoran Talley had 15, Lindell Wigginton added 12 and Solomon Young scored 12 for Iowa State, which entered the night in last place in the Big 12. Nick Weiler-Babb added 14 after missing the past four games because of injury.
KU, which led by five points at halftime, 39-34, thanks in part to seldom-used Silvio De Sousa scoring three points in the late moments of the half, used an 8-0 run to lead by 11 points at 47-36 with 17:01 left. Vick made a pair of 3s and Azubuike hit a bucket in the surge.
Iowa State, however, kept up the pressure and sliced the gap to three points, 60-57, at 9:55.
KU rebuilt the lead to seven points at 64-57 and 66-59, as well as 68-61 with 8 minutes left.
KU led, 68-63, then used a 8-0 surge to go up by 13 at 76-63 with 4:49 left. Azubuike scored four points, and Graham and Vick each had two in that run.
Iowa State closed within eight (78-70) at 1:59 and six at 1:17. The Cyclones had a chance to cut it to three, but Wigginton missed a 3-pointer with 27.3 seconds left. Graham missed two free throws, and Iowa State's Talley scored, but he missed a free throw at 21.6, and KU maintained an 81-77 lead.
Graham returned to the line with 18.8 seconds left and hit one free throw to make it 82-77. Donovan Jackson air-balled a 3, KU rebounded and the game effectively was over with 6.7 seconds left.
De Sousa entered with 2:44 left in the first half and KU leading 31-28 after Mitch Lightfoot joined Azubuike on the bench with two fouls.
De Sousa tipped in his own miss _ Iowa State fans thought he walked before scoring _ and hit a free throw, while Newman had three points in the half-ending run.
Newman, who scored 27 points against Iowa State in a KU win in Lawrence earlier this season, had 10 points the first half, while Graham scored seven and Mykhailiuk added six. Lard had 11 points for the Cyclones. KU hit 5 of 17 3s in the half to Iowa State's 1 of 7.
Graham wasn't as hot as he was at shootaround, missing eight of 10 first-half shots, and missing 4 of 5 3s.
Iowa State used a 7-2 run to open a 17-11 lead at 12:11. KU at that point was 0 of 5 from 3 and 4 of 10 overall. The Jayhawks outscored the Cyclones 7-0 and turned a 19-14 deficit into a 21-19 lead at 9:01. Vick made a 3-pointer, while Newman and Marcus Garret each had a bucket in the run.
Mykhailiuk hit two 3s, and KU turned a 21-21 tie into a 27-21 lead at 6:40. Iowa State led 28-27 with 4 minutes left in the half. Garrett hit a free throw and Newman a 3-pointer to give KU a 31-28 advantage at 3:11. The Jayhawks took a five-point lead into halftime.
