The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1516111
MARCH/APRIL 2024 ■ 25 Horne has settled in as an elite scorer. He had logged four consecutive 20-point outings heading into the trip to Clemson, including a season-best 31-point out- burst at Wake Forest on Feb. 10. 'He's Playing At A High Level' Going into the season, Keatts had envi- sioned a Joiner-type leap for Horne. The seventh-year coach has been gratified by what he's seen so far. "He's playing at a high level, playing with a lot of emotion," Keatts said. "To be quite honest with you, he has carried us the last three or four games. I'm happy for him. … He's played really good basketball the entire year, he's just played elite bas- ketball the last four games. I don't know where we would be at this moment with- out him." While Horne has been able to propel NC State's offense through much of the ACC season, he is not preoccupied with his personal statistics. He has a bigger goal in mind: getting back to the NCAA Tournament. Horne led Arizona State in both of its NCAA Tournament games last March, and he is focused on returning the Wolf- pack to the tournament this season. "While the ball is going in, my mind is still locked in on winning at the end of the day," Horne said. "I know no matter how many points I score, if we're not winning, we're not going to get back to the tourna- ment." ■ NC State graduate guard Casey Morsell had a rocky shooting stretch from mid-December through mid-Jan- uary. He logged four single-digit scoring performances in a five-game span during which he shot below 34 percent from the field. Morsell made just 2 of 21 three-pointers during his shooting slump and had to try to find a way to get roll- ing. The Virginia transfer was an excellent three-point shooter a year ago, hitting 41.1 percent of his attempts from distance, but that rate had declined to 29.5 per- cent earlier this year. With those struggles in mind, NC State's coaching staff suggested that Morsell try driving to the basket more frequently. He's a spot-up shooter, but by encouraging him to drive, the staff felt he could create scoring pos- sibilities in two ways: either he would find high-percent- age shots at the rim or he would draw shooting fouls giving him a chance to score from the free throw line. Morsell tried that approach in a Jan. 20 game against Virginia Tech and ended up attempting 10 free throws and making 9. He finished with 19 points, his highest- scoring game since a 21-point performance against Saint Louis on Dec. 20. "He started taking the ball to the rim and getting to the free throw line," coach Kevin Keatts said. "I think he's found some type of a positive, because he didn't shoot the ball well a few games [earlier]. He's been very efficient when he can get into the paint and get to the free throw line. He's probably been our best paint-touch guy over the last two weeks." Morsell made at least 2 free throws in five of the Pack's next six games, going 6 of 6 against Syracuse on Jan. 27 and 3 of 4 versus Wake Forest on Feb. 10. With seven regular-season games remaining, the Fort Washington, Md., native had already made a career-best 59 free throws on a career-most 71 attempts. His previous highs were 41 makes (2022-23) and 56 attempts (2021-22). Morsell described the new approach not just as a different way to score, but as a path to becoming a more well-rounded basketball player. "Shots haven't fallen as much this year, [and] the drives are there," he said. "I can play both ways. I try to shoot it, I try to drive it. I'm just trying to be more of a com - plete basketball player, and I think the biggest thing is trying to make it count at the line. I've just got to keep that momentum going." The new approach helped Morsell reach double figures in five consecutive games and was a key to the Wolfpack's 47-point second-half scoring binge in an 82-76 vic- tory over Georgia Tech on Feb. 3. NC State made just 5 two-point shots in the first half against the Yellow Jackets, shooting 30.3 percent from the field in falling behind, 45-35. That performance led to a halftime adjustment in which the Pack opted to take a page out of the playbook it had used for Morsell. The Wolfpack's intentional way of getting to the rim in the second half led to a 44.4 percent shooting performance from the field. NC State made 12 two-point shots — including 9 layups and a dunk — to rally for a victory over the visiting Yellow Jackets. "Once we did that, we saw a different game," Keatts said, "and it turned around for us offensively." Driving the ball worked to get Morsell back into his scoring swing, and it did the same for the team against Georgia Tech. It might be the recipe for NC State's offen - sive success through the final weeks of the regular season before the team heads to the ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C., in March. — Noah Fleischman Casey Morsell Finds A New Way To Make An Impact Even after a midseason shooting slump, Morsell was third on the team in scoring through 24 games with an average of 11.8 points per game. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS