NC State basketball premium observations from William & Mary

While other teams within the conference were gearing up for the ACC-BIG10 Challenge, NC State basketball coasted their way to an 85-64 victory over William & Mary. With the first month of college basketball out of the way, the Wolfpack is sitting at 7-1 on the season. the only loss coming from the reigning champs, Kansas.

Here are three observations from the victory.

Improved Three-Point Defense

Fresh off the trip to the Bahamas, the team started off a little sloppy against the Tribe. Within the first five minutes of the game, NC State had already committed 3 turnovers and 2 team fouls. William & Mary, after making their first three attempts beyond the arc, even held a lead for part of the first half.

From that point on, however, the Pack started to dominate. William & Mary went ice cold from long range, shooting 0 of 5 to close out the first half. NC State changed this game once they stepped up their defense on the perimeter. The Tribe would go on to shoot just 7-of-19 from beyond the arc.

NC State’s three-point defense hasn’t been stellar this year, ranking 210th in the NCAA in three-point percentage defense. However, after allowing Kansas to shoot 10 of 21 from three, NC State’s opponents have shot just 15 of 50 (30.0 percent) in the past three games.

Casey Morsell’s Continued Breakout

While the Wolfpack are stopping other teams from making threes, NC State is on fire. Specifically, senior guard Casey Morsell.

Talk about a complete 180 from a season ago. Mostly known for his defense, Morsell has really flipped a switch and become a scorer. Already having arguably one of the better shooting seasons in the ACC, Morsell added fuel to the fire by hitting 6 of 9 threes against William & Mary. This is now the second game this season for Morsell where he has made 6 three-pointers.

Morsell was making shots from everywhere on the court, going 8 of 12 from the field and a game-high 23 points. Morsell is performing as one of the best shooters in the country. Morsell is now shooting 53.2 percent (25 of 47) from three this season.

The team shot 12 of 28 from three, the second most made treys in a game this season.

NC State With A Team Effort

Even though it felt like it, it wasn’t just the Morsell show. The supporting cast did their part as well. The starting five combined for 61 of the teams 85 points. The guard play specifically has been the top quality of this team. Sophomore guard Terquavion Smith had a career-high seven assists on just one turnover.

Overall, the team had 18 assists on 31 made baskets.

Smith didn’t showcase his scoring ability because he, quite frankly, didn’t need to, and he finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. A struggling shot didn’t stop Smith from producing in other facets on the court.

Senior guard Jarkel Joiner had another nice performance putting up 11 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 turnovers. His defender had a difficult time staying in front of Joiner all night.

Senior forward Jack Clark is starting to find his shot after another quiet, but efficient night. Scoring 12 points and securing 6 rebounds, Clark and Joiner were tied for a team-high 3 steals each. Clark hasn’t shot well from three-point territory, but he has two games in a row with multiple treys. If Clark were to find his outside shot, he could open the door to another element to his game.

There was a little bit of switch-up in the starting lineup with senor center D.J. Burns Jr. getting the nod over senior center Dusan Mahorcic. It wasn’t the best night for Burns after getting into foul trouble early. Burns was an enforcer on the offensive glass where he secured all three of his rebounds.

Mahorcic had a stellar night off the bench with 12 points and 9 boards. Head coach Kevin Keatts mentioned after the game that he feels like he has six starters on the team and that he “…just felt like going with DJ over Dusan”. Keatts has shown over the years that he likes to tinker with the starting lineup a time or two before ACC play starts.

With Mahorcic’s impressive night on the bench, one wonders if the big man might find his way back into the starting lineup.