Print edition: 
LOS ANGELES — With the Morris twins, there's always a story.
In Markieff Morris' mind, he did not score a career-high 19 points in No. 1 Kansas' 73-61 victory over UCLA on Sunday because he is a highly-talented basketball player and it just happened to be his time to show it. No, inevitably there was a deeper reason for his performance, and if you're familiar with the Morris yarn, it should not be a shock to hear that it involved KU coach Bill Self screaming at him and brother Marcus at a recent practice.
Marcus and Markieff have differing narratives of the incident, which is only to be expected from the bards from Philly, who refuse to let details get in the way of a good story. Basically, the twins may or may not have been joking around together near the end of practice, and Marcus may or may not have stopped on a play after a teammate grabbed his arm while he was going for a rebound. The only thing both twins agreed upon was how the story ended.
"On the line," Self yelled at them.
The story often ends that way for the Morris twins, who have battled chronic laziness since arriving in Lawrence. As they've done hundreds of times, they went to the baseline and completed a string of "22s," which require them to run down the floor and back twice in 22 seconds.
Listening to Self and the Jayhawks talk about the twins this season, it seemed that they may have conquered the lazy bug. They worked their tails off in the offseason, putting on good weight, and they have been widely cited as the most- improved players on the team. But there they were again, racing against time and their own laid-back nature while their teammates continued practice without them.
"Coach said I wasn't playing hard," Markieff said. "He felt like I was relaxing."
From Marcus: "He challenged our manhood. He said we were reading the news clips too much. I don't even read it at all."
Better for Self that Marcus does not read this: The twins were the difference in the game for the Jayhawks, who improved to 7-0 and notched their first road win. Markieff was a consistent force in his 21 minutes, making 8 of 11 shots and grabbing six rebounds and two steals. Even though Marcus had a poor shooting night, making 2 of 7 field goals, he grabbed nine rebounds and stayed active on both ends.
KU center Cole Aldrich faced persistent double teams all day and had another tough day from the field, making 1 of 6 shots, but again, it didn't matter. Not on this team, which now has seven players that have either led the team in scoring or tied for the lead through seven games.
"I really thought that Sherron and Cole would be scoring more points right now," Self said. "It's just not playing out that way. We've had different guys step up. When we've been poor offensively, we've had some individuals make some plays."
Markieff's career high entering Sunday's game was 11 points earlier this season against Tennessee Tech. He has shown more capability offensively, at one point making 14 shots in a row, but he showed that he was more than just capable against the Bruins. UCLA double-teamed Aldrich, and Markieff made them pay with an ability to convert in Self's high-low offense with a variety of post moves. The most impressive basket was a left-handed hook shot from the right-hander.
"Markieff was our best player today without question," Self said. "I thought he played terrific. He was really aggressive."
Self didn't mention his running of the twins, and why would he? With those two, it'll come out eventually anyway.
"I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder coming into the game," Markieff said.
Maybe Markieff's 19 points were simple after all. He was lazy before, and on Sunday he wasn't.
"Definitely," Marcus said. "Coach is always right."
Or maybe not. The twins still aren't willing to say they were being lazy.
"He calls me lazy all the time because I'm so laid-back," Markieff said. "I don't see it as I'm lazy. I just see it as I'm laid-back."
