How a Devonté Graham gesture — on the game's biggest play — helped KU to the Sweet 16

One has to look closely, but the replay shows it.

The movement is subtle, almost looking like nothing. Kansas guard Malik Newman has the ball, but it's Devonté Graham a few steps away who is the one to watch.

All season, this has been Graham's moment. He won Big 12 player of the year and racked up national awards for times like this, rescuing the Jayhawks when they needed him most.

This possession in KU's 83-79 victory over Seton Hall in the NCAA Tournament would be different.

The Jayhawks led by five with 1:37 left. Newman had just gotten a defensive rebound, bringing the ball up the floor himself.

And this hadn't been Graham's night — something that was evident early.

At the 16-minute mark of the first half, Graham lost the ball on a simple crossover in transition with no defender around him. Less than a minute later, something similar happened, as Graham came around a screen before the ball trickled away between his legs.

Graham's first half was ugly: three points, 1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-3 accuracy from three with two assists and four turnovers.

From that point on, Graham said his thoughts were all about others. He took only two field-goal attempts after halftime — missing both — but also had seven assists then with just one turnover.

"I just couldn't make a shot," Graham said afterward.

His biggest assist, though, would never appear in the box score.

With his college career on the line in the final 2 minutes, Graham made a motion to his teammate beside him. In a quick move, he waved his hand toward his teammate.

"I looked at him, and he told me, 'Keep it. Go ahead,'" Newman said.

This took faith for sure.

Newman was having one of his best games as a Jayhawk, but this still was a player who had 0, 0 and 0 assists in his first three Big 12 games this season.

This would be different. After KU coach Bill Self called a play from the bench, Newman waited for Mitch Lightfoot to set a ball screen, knowing he'd likely have to drive right, based on the way Seton Hall had defended all game.

In the unfamiliar role — this was Graham's play all year, remember — Newman attacked Seton Hall big man Angel Delgado to get both feet in the lane before having his angle cut off.

Newman tried to get Delgado to commit with a jump, but that didn't happen. The guard's next read was a pass to the corner, but that was covered too.

He didn't panic. Newman pivoted to draw a crowd before finding Svi Mykhailiuk on the wing behind him for an open three.

Graham raised his arms before the shot even went up.

"I just knew it was going in," Graham said. "It was too open."

It did. Mykhailiuk showed rare emotion, firing an imaginary three arrow into the crowd.

"I thought that may have been the biggest play of the game," Self said.

Surrounded by reporters in the locker room 40 minutes later, Newman said he was just thankful to have the trust of his teammate.

"It shows a lot to know that our senior leader and senior point guard has that much confidence in me when it's late game and kind of the deciding play of the game," Newman said. "To tell me, 'Keep the ball, go make a play, and basically bring us home.'"

Graham could have been tempted to play the hero role himself. He could have asked for a pass from Newman, and no one would have questioned it.

Instead, in a split-second decision, he chose to believe in a teammate.

And because of that, Graham is still dancing too.

This story was originally published March 17, 2018 at 11:41 PM with the headline "How a Devonté Graham gesture — on the game's biggest play — helped KU to the Sweet 16."