It’s 30 minutes before practice starts and Marcus Morris is already on the Allen Fieldhouse floor shooting.

This is routine for Morris, a freshman forward. He used to say he shot 200 three-point shots before every practice, but his teammates didn’t believe it so he’s changing that estimate.

“They said I was over-exaggerating last time,” Morris said. “So maybe I’ll say 100 or maybe 50.”

Either way, that’s a lot of repetitions for a power forward who spends most of his time around the basket during games. Morris, however, has never conformed his game around being a traditional big man.

Despite his 6-foot-8 frame, Morris played mostly on the perimeter at Prep Charter High School in Philadelphia. Many of his 1,325 career points there, a school record, came from behind the three-point line.

“Back in high school, I shot it a lot,” Morris said. “I wasn’t even hesitant in high school. Every time I got the ball, I basically shot it.”

Morris hasn’t fired three-point shots that frequently in his first year at Kansas, but he has attempted 14 of them. He’s converted on six and has gone 5-for-11 since Big 12 Conference play began.

That Morris has shown the ability to make them is what is important to Kansas coach Bill Self, who says Morris’ three-point range complicates opponents’ game plans. Self said it forced defenses to “stretch” and cover more ground when a frontcourt player could make threes.

Junior guard Mario Little has noticed a different benefit.

“It helps because they really can’t trap Cole down there,” Little said, “because they have to get out to the shooters.”

Because of how often he shot in high school, Morris developed a reputation as a big man with range before ever playing a college game. Little heard about it before arriving on campus this summer.

He had no reason to be skeptical. Little soon learned the rumors were true.

“I don’t put it past anybody being able to shoot,” Little said. “But when we first met each other, we came and shot in the gym anyway, and I figured out they could shoot.”

By “they,” Little also means Marcus’ twin brother, freshman forward Markieff Morris, who doesn’t shy away from taking three-point shots either. Although Markieff doesn’t shoot as often as his brother, he’s still 3-for-10 from three-point range this season.

Markieff has only taken one three-pointer in Kansas’ last five games, a misfire against Nebraska. Marcus missed his only attempt in Monday’s victory against Oklahoma, but made his only one against Nebraska Saturday.

But what’s pleased Self the most about the Morris twins lately is how they’ve played when their shots aren’t falling. Last week, Self singled the brothers out as a reason why Kansas was playing better.

“The biggest difference to me is Markieff and Marcus,” Self said. “Those are two factors we didn’t consistently have earlier in the year. Now, they can impact the game even when they don’t shoot the basketball well.”

But that doesn’t mean Marcus is going to stop shooting. As long as he’s at Kansas, it will have a big man who is capable of stepping out and hitting a three-point shot.

The Jayhawks will also have a big man who is always early to practice to work on his shooting, even if his estimates aren’t always accurate.

— — Edited by Andrew Wiebe