Kansas cruises past K-State 85-63 in Big 12 quarterfinal (+video)

Devonte’ Graham screamed toward the Kansas bench after the first-half three-pointer, and after the timeout was called a few seconds later, he leapt into the air with a teammate to celebrate.

He wasn’t the only person fired up by the play.

Four rows behind the bench, Dewanna King — with a temporary Jayhawk tattoo on her right cheek and red and blue beads around her neck — pushed her pointer finger in the air during the first-half run in KU’s 85-63 victory over Kansas State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday at Sprint Center.

Mom was enjoying this just as much as her son.

“He’s having, probably, the best time of his life,” King said after the game. “That’s always been him. It’s his personality. You can tell he’s enjoying himself, being in school and being able to play.”

King, who had flown in from Raleigh, N.C., the day before and hadn't seen her son play in person since the Kentucky game on Jan. 30, couldn’t have seen a much better effort from Graham in the decisive first half.

After K-State trimmed KU’s lead to 27-21, Graham had a hand in the Jayhawks’ next 12 points. He made a jumper, fed Frank Mason for two assists, then hid a mid-range shot before putting in the final three in transition to boost KU’s lead to 14.

“It’s always exciting to see him out there playing, enjoying himself,” King said.

Graham’s play helped KU extend its win streak to 12 games, as the Jayhawks advance to play fifth-seeded Baylor at 6 p.m. Friday in the semifinals on ESPN2.

In 34 minutes, Graham posted 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting while adding eight assists and three steals with one turnover.

King could only nitpick at one part of her son’s stat line.

“His assists were pretty good. I was hoping for two more,” she said with a laugh.

She wasn’t the only one to notice Graham’s contributions.

Junior forward Landen Lucas says he’s seen a different player since KU’s 76-72 victory at Oklahoma on Feb. 13. In that game, Graham went for a career-best 27 points while locking down defensively on national player of the year frontrunner Buddy Hield.

Mason, who had 16 points himself, saw Graham making big shots while working to get his teammates involved. He also did all that while serving as KU’s emotional leader.

"He’s always happy, always in a good mood,” Mason said. “It’s good to be around.”

Graham was one of many KU players who found offensive success against K-State.

Forward Perry Ellis found frequent openings in the paint while scoring 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Carlton Bragg also gave KU strong minutes off the bench, scoring a career-high 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

“He responded today,” KU coach Bill Self said, “and you guys can see he is a talented kid.”

The Jayhawks, who made 57 percent of their shots, were efficient inside, going 25-for-36 from two-point range (69 percent).

KU (28-4) improved to 19-1 in Big 12 Tournament openers.

“It was a good first day,” Self said, “and I’m happy with our team.”

Though Self was noncommittal early in the week about extending his starters’ minutes with the NCAA Tournament looming, he appeared to let the competitive juices take over in Thursday’s victory. Though KU held control most of the second half, Graham (34 minutes), Mason (32) and Ellis (30) didn’t receive extended rest, instead playing until the final media timeout at the 2:38 mark.

King, for one, wasn't anticipating an early KU exit. She wore a blue, “Kansas Jayhawks” shirt on Thursday, said she has two other ones packed in her suitcase as well.

“Everything’s KU,” she said with a smile.

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Kansas cruises past K-State 85-63 in Big 12 quarterfinal (+video)."