<table> </table> LAWRENCE | Freshmen often talk about how nervous they were before their first collegiate game, but it&#8217;s doubtful that many of them have ever been as nervous as Markieff Morris.</p><p>Morris&#8217; two exhibition games with Kansas were nondescript. Entering Sunday&#8217;s regular-season opener against UMKC, Morris was so nervous that he was telling nearly everybody about it. At KU&#8217;s pregame shootaround, Morris told Sherron Collins that his hands were sweaty.</p><p>&#8220;I even grabbed his hands to see how sweaty they were,&#8221; Collins said. &#8220;Pretty sweaty.&#8221;</p><p>Luckily for No. 23 KU, a 71-56 winner over UMKC, Morris&#8217; hands dried up enough to hold on to 15 rebounds. Morris, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Philadelphia, played 29 minutes because of foul trouble for Cole Aldrich and Morris&#8217; twin brother, Marcus, in the first half. Markieff is hopeful that his bout with pregame nervousness is over.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a freshman,&#8221; Morris explained. &#8220;I&#8217;m still young. I&#8217;m starting to get used to it.&#8221;</p><p>The Jayhawks all looked a bit tight during a first half that defied the imagination. The UMKC Kangaroos, who lost to North Dakota in their opener on Friday, led KU 31-25. The Jayhawks shot just eight of 25 from the field and one of 11 from three-point range and played without Aldrich for 16 minutes.</p><p>Markieff Morris&#8217; effort just might have saved the Jayhawks from an embarrassing defeat. Morris said he has learned that he can&#8217;t rebound the way he did in high school.</p><p>&#8220;The first couple of exhibition games I was getting used to blocking out,&#8221; Morris said. &#8220;Today, I started hitting guys before they hit me.&#8221;</p><p>Morris wasn&#8217;t the only freshman who deserved credit for KU&#8217;s turnaround, though. Guard Tyshawn Taylor started the second half and got the Jayhawks off and running. Taylor scored on a layup and then immediately stole the inbounds pass for a second layup that gave the Jayhawks a 46-37 lead.</p><p>&#8220;It came right to me,&#8221; Taylor said. &#8220;It seemed like it changed the momentum a little bit.&#8221;</p><p>Guard Travis Releford took over for Taylor later in the second half, scoring six points and affecting the game defensively with two steals. KU coach Bill Self was willing to credit him with another.</p><p>&#8220;He stole us about three extra possessions tonight, which turned out to be key points,&#8221; Self said.</p><p>The Jayhawks probably will have a lot of games like this at the beginning of the season and possibly throughout. The Jayhawks lacked patience offensively and were too willing to fire up three-pointers early in the shot clock.</p><p>&#8220;Certainly, not picturesque,&#8221; Self said. &#8220;But I have seen a lot worse. I&#8217;m not remotely discouraged.&#8221;</p><p>The Jayhawks&#8217; three freshmen off the bench &#8212; Markieff Morris, Taylor and Releford &#8212; all showed flashes of being ready to contribute consistently.</p><p>&#8220;You can expect a lot of energy from us,&#8221; Taylor said. &#8220;Every game, I think it&#8217;s going to be one of us different that&#8217;s doing something spectacular. Like, Markieff got 15 rebounds, and that&#8217;s incredible.&#8221;</p><p>Morris said he wasn&#8217;t aware of his rebound total during the game.</p><p>&#8220;Coach (Danny) Manning just told me to keep going, and he&#8217;d tell me at the end of the game how many rebounds I have,&#8221; Morris said.</p><p>It was actually Self who told Morris in the postgame locker room.</p><p>&#8220;You should have seen his face,&#8221; Taylor said.</p><p>Odds are, an examination of Morris&#8217; hands at that moment would have shown no sweat.