Markieff Morris

Markieff Morris was born seven minutes ahead of twin brother Marcus. He was first in the NBA, too, selected by the Phoenix Suns at No. 13 overall, five minutes before the Houston Rockets made Marcus the No. 14 pick. Markieff was in sweltering Phoenix on Friday, introduced at a news conference at US Airways Center with his mother, Angel, beaming from the front row. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound power forward says he will miss playing alongside his brother, as the pair did at Kansas, but he smiled while noting that Steve Nash would be an upgrade as a teammate.

Markieff Morris had 26 points and 15 rebounds and No. 1 Kansas bounced back from a lopsided loss to Kansas State with an 89-63 victory over Colorado, the Buffaloes' 28th straight defeat in Lawrence. Brady Morningstar hit his first four 3-pointers to help the Jayhawks (25-2, 10-2 Big 12) get off to a flying start after their brand-new No. 1 ranking was tarnished Monday night by a shocking 84-68 loss at the home of the unranked Wildcats. Colorado (16-11, 5-7) will go into the Pac-10 next year with a 5-52 record in Allen Fieldhouse.

Marcus Morris, the leading scorer for No. 3 Kansas, has lost his starting job after getting kicked out of the Jayhawks' last game for throwing an elbow. Coach Bill Self says the 6-foot-8 junior won't start Wednesday when Kansas hosts Texas-Arlington. Morris, twin brother of teammate Markieff Morris, is averaging 15.5 points and 6.1 rebounds. He was ejected Dec. 22 at California when he swung his elbow at Harper Kamp. Self said Tuesday he did not know how long Morris would have to come off the bench.

For the second time in the Kansas' long basketball history, three players were taken in both rounds of the NBA Draft. It was also the second year in a row that two Jayhawk players were taken back to back as the Morris Twins were selected 13th and 14th overall by the Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets, respectively. "I just told my brother that these are the two places we both wanted to end up at," Marcus said. "If we weren't going to be together I wanted to be a Houston Rocket.

Thomas Robinson scored a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 3 Kansas beat Texas-Arlington 82-57 on Wednesday night. Markieff Morris had 14 points and Marcus had 13 for Kansas, which extended its school-record home court winning streak to 66. Bo Ingram led Texas-Arlington (5-5) with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. The Mavericks of the Southland Conference came in as heavy underdogs and had never beaten a ranked opponent. They were 3-50 against teams from the Big 12, but only trailed by 12 points early in the second half.

The second ranked Kansas Jayhawks pounded the Iowa State Cyclones today 89 to 66 at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.  The Jayhawks (24-1, 8-1) were led by Marcus Morris with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Markieff Morris was also impressive, recording a double-double with 13 and 11 while also dishing out 5 assists.  Tyshawn Taylor found a shooting groove as well finishing with 14 points.  Both Thomas Robinson (torn meniscus) and Josh Selby (stress reaction in foot) were on the bench for Kansas this afternoon.

University of Kansas junior center Markieff Morris will undergo hernia surgery today. Morris’ surgery is expected to keep him out of practice for a week to 10 days, according to Jayhawk head coach Bill Self. “Markieff is having the most minor of surgeries (today),” said Self. “You never want guys to miss any time, but we’re probably talking about missing seven days of practice. He should be able to run and shoot within days, be full-speed within seven to 10 days.

Jayhawk senior forward Mario Little’s free throw after a made basket and a foul on Oklahoma State’s sophomore Roger Franklin with 1:11 to play in the game proved to be the deciding point in No. 2 Kansas’ 63-62 win over the Cowboys in the opening round of the 2011 Big 12 Championship. With the win the top-seeded Jayhawks advanced to the semifinals where they will face the winner of fourth-seeded Kansas State and fifth-seeded Colorado on Friday at 6 p.m. Little finished the game with eight points, including the last five points of the game for KU as the Jayhawks improved to 30-2 on the season, securing their fourth 30-win season in the last five years.

Kansas University’s offense was stagnant toward the end of the first half, and KU coach Bill Self told his players he believed he knew why. At halftime of the Jayhawks’ 73-59 victory over Illinois on Sunday, Self told his guards that they needed to be tougher, as Illinois’ guards were pushing them toward midcourt — and out of their offense. “No one’s going to say, ‘Hey, I thought that Kansas played the ball screen great in the second half, and that’s why they won the game,’” KU senior guard Tyrel Reed said, “but, in essence, I thought we did a good job.” Because KU’s guards were more physical in the second half — and came around ball screens shoulder-to-shoulder with their screen-setting teammates at the three-point line — the Jayhawks were able to get some easy baskets off the pick-and-roll.

Mario Little's three-point play broke a tie with 71 seconds to go and Oklahoma State missed a desperation heave at the buzzer, allowing No. 2 Kansas to escape with a 63-62 victory Thursday in the second round of the Big 12 tournament. Big 12 player of the year Marcus Morris, shut down most of the second half, hit a key 3-pointer for the Jayhawks (30-2). Kansas trailed by as many as eight until Oklahoma State (19-13) got in deep foul trouble in the second half. Keiton Page had 23 points and Jean-Paul Olukemi had 17 for Oklahoma State, which did a good job of keeping Marcus and Markieff Morris away from the basket and forced the Jayhawks out deep.

Markieff Morris was born seven minutes ahead of twin brother Marcus. He was first in the NBA, too, selected by the Phoenix Suns at No. 13 overall, five minutes before the Houston Rockets made Marcus the No. 14 pick. Markieff was in sweltering Phoenix on Friday, introduced at a news conference at US Airways Center with his mother, Angel, beaming from the front row. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound power forward says he will miss playing alongside his brother, as the pair did at Kansas, but he smiled while noting that Steve Nash would be an upgrade as a teammate.

For the second time in the Kansas' long basketball history, three players were taken in both rounds of the NBA Draft. It was also the second year in a row that two Jayhawk players were taken back to back as the Morris Twins were selected 13th and 14th overall by the Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets, respectively. "I just told my brother that these are the two places we both wanted to end up at," Marcus said. "If we weren't going to be together I wanted to be a Houston Rocket.

Kansas University’s offense was stagnant toward the end of the first half, and KU coach Bill Self told his players he believed he knew why. At halftime of the Jayhawks’ 73-59 victory over Illinois on Sunday, Self told his guards that they needed to be tougher, as Illinois’ guards were pushing them toward midcourt — and out of their offense. “No one’s going to say, ‘Hey, I thought that Kansas played the ball screen great in the second half, and that’s why they won the game,’” KU senior guard Tyrel Reed said, “but, in essence, I thought we did a good job.” Because KU’s guards were more physical in the second half — and came around ball screens shoulder-to-shoulder with their screen-setting teammates at the three-point line — the Jayhawks were able to get some easy baskets off the pick-and-roll.

Three great athletes from Kansas University finished like champions Sunday and showed the world how much they have grown. Two of them always wowed people with their unusual skill for men their size, displaying such amazing finesse, but they arrived at KU needing to instill power in their games. Another always had extraordinary power and had to refine the finesse end of his game. Right about the time Marcus and Markieff Morris were riding the Kansas team bus to the BOK Center for a game against Illinois, the tallest team in the NCAA Tournament, Gary Woodland, 26 and one of the longest drivers of the golf ball on the PGA Tour, drained clutch putts 1,200 miles away, in Tampa, Fla., to win his first tour event, a $990,000 purse, and a spot in the Masters field.

The way their semi final game started, it looked like a disaster for Kansas. Colorado opened up 22-10 lead on the Jayhawks, stunning the KU crowd and even themselves but something head coach Bill Self said during one of their timeouts sparked them up. KU went on a 19-4 run to tie the game and eventually taking the lead and winning a tough battle with Colorado, 90-83. "We actually played some of our best ball from the ten minute mark in the first half to the ten minute mark in the second half," Bill Self said following the game.

Mario Little's three-point play broke a tie with 71 seconds to go and Oklahoma State missed a desperation heave at the buzzer, allowing No. 2 Kansas to escape with a 63-62 victory Thursday in the second round of the Big 12 tournament. Big 12 player of the year Marcus Morris, shut down most of the second half, hit a key 3-pointer for the Jayhawks (30-2). Kansas trailed by as many as eight until Oklahoma State (19-13) got in deep foul trouble in the second half. Keiton Page had 23 points and Jean-Paul Olukemi had 17 for Oklahoma State, which did a good job of keeping Marcus and Markieff Morris away from the basket and forced the Jayhawks out deep.

Jayhawk senior forward Mario Little’s free throw after a made basket and a foul on Oklahoma State’s sophomore Roger Franklin with 1:11 to play in the game proved to be the deciding point in No. 2 Kansas’ 63-62 win over the Cowboys in the opening round of the 2011 Big 12 Championship. With the win the top-seeded Jayhawks advanced to the semifinals where they will face the winner of fourth-seeded Kansas State and fifth-seeded Colorado on Friday at 6 p.m. Little finished the game with eight points, including the last five points of the game for KU as the Jayhawks improved to 30-2 on the season, securing their fourth 30-win season in the last five years.

Markieff Morris had 26 points and 15 rebounds and No. 1 Kansas bounced back from a lopsided loss to Kansas State with an 89-63 victory over Colorado, the Buffaloes' 28th straight defeat in Lawrence. Brady Morningstar hit his first four 3-pointers to help the Jayhawks (25-2, 10-2 Big 12) get off to a flying start after their brand-new No. 1 ranking was tarnished Monday night by a shocking 84-68 loss at the home of the unranked Wildcats. Colorado (16-11, 5-7) will go into the Pac-10 next year with a 5-52 record in Allen Fieldhouse.

The second ranked Kansas Jayhawks pounded the Iowa State Cyclones today 89 to 66 at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.  The Jayhawks (24-1, 8-1) were led by Marcus Morris with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Markieff Morris was also impressive, recording a double-double with 13 and 11 while also dishing out 5 assists.  Tyshawn Taylor found a shooting groove as well finishing with 14 points.  Both Thomas Robinson (torn meniscus) and Josh Selby (stress reaction in foot) were on the bench for Kansas this afternoon.

A balanced Kansas offense saw five players score 11 or more points as the No. 2 Jayhawks defeated Texas Tech 88-66 at the United Spirit Arena Tuesday night.   The win was KU coach Bill Self’s first win in Lubbock as the Jayhawks improved to 21-1 overall, including 6-1 in Big 12 Conference play. Kansas’ last win at Texas Tech was a 65-56 win on March 3, 2003.   TTU had its three-game win streak spoiled as it dropped to 11-12 on the season and 3-5 in league play.