How NC State’s Casey Morsell increased his free throw output to a career best mark

NC State graduate guard Casey Morsell had a rocky shooting stretch across five games from mid-December to mid-January. He logged four single-digit scoring performances in that period, which were a part of five contests in which he shot less than 34% from the field.

Morsell made just two of his 21 three-pointers during his shooting slump, and he had to try to find a way to get rolling. The Virginia transfer was an excellent three-point shooter a year ago with a 41.1% clip from distance, but his outside shots have fallen to a 29.5% mark this season. 

With those struggles in mind, NC State’s coaching staff came to the spot-up shooter with an idea: drive to the basket. By doing so, two possibilities were in play — he’d make a high-percentage shot at the rim or he’d draw a shooting foul and have a chance from the free throw line. 

And in the first game Morsell approached with that idea, he practically set up shop at the charity stripe. The guard was 9-of-10 from the free throw line against Virginia Tech, which paced him to his highest scoring output (19 points) since his 21-point performance against Saint Louis — a game he hit four three-pointers in. 

NC State coach Kevin Keatts called Morsell’s shooting struggles a “blessing a little bit” since it led to success at stripe. 

“He started taking the ball to the rim and getting to the free throw line,” Keatts said. “I think he’s found some type of a positive because he didn’t shoot the ball well a few games ago. It’s kind of helped our team because 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 has made at least two free throws in each of the past eight games, and has posted four contests with at least four makes from the line in that span. 

The Fort Washington, Md., native has reached a career-best 56 free throws on a career-most 67 attempts from the line with nine regular season games left. That is more than he has had in any of his other four seasons in college basketball — his previous highs were 41 makes (2022-23) and 56 attempts (2021-22). 

Morsell described it, not only as a way to score, but to become a well-rounded basketball player. 

“Shots haven’t fallen as much this year [and] the drives are there,” Morsell 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 complete 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.”

While driving to the basket has led to five-straight games in double figures for Morsell, it was a key in the Wolfpack’s 47-point second half in its 82-76 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday evening. 

NC State made just five shots inside the arc, which resulted in a 30.3% clip from the field, in the first half against the Yellow Jackets. The Wolfpack’s halftime conversation was based around taking the same page out of the shooting slump playbook NC State used for Morsell: drive to the basket. 

The Wolfpack’s intentional way of getting to the rim in the second half led to a 44.4% mark from the field with 12 made two-point shots — including nine layups and one dunk —  to beat the 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 to NC State’s offensive success through the final nine games of the regular season before the Wolfpack heads to the ACC tournament in Washington, D.C. in March.