Handpflege » Buford, Snyder had any number of reactions available to him -

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Dennis Smith Jr. is back to playing like himself. Still, he looked like someone else to the opposing coach.Smith scored a career-high 30 points to help North Carolina State beat Loyola-Chicago 79-77 on Saturday.Torin Dorn added 20 points for the Wolfpack (5-1), who shot 51 percent from the floor.Smith, a freshman point guard, made 13 of 22 shots from the floor and added seven assists. He opened the season a combined 6 of 22 in the first two games.Im much more comfortable, Smith said. Im still finding my way, just like everybody else. Were going to get a lot better.Abdul-Malik Abu broke a 71-71 tie with a tip-in with 3:29 remaining to give N.C. State the lead for good.Smith provided a steal and layup, assisted on a dunk by Abu and made two free throws to keep his team in front.Dennis Smith was phenomenal, Loyola coach Porter Moser said. He was like (Russell) Westbrook the way he was that quick and that athletic. . I mean, hes all that and more than advertised.Terry Henderson scored 19 points for the Wolfpack, who missed the front end of two one-and-ones in the final 7 seconds.Markell Johnson stole the ball from Loyolas Milton Doyle after the first, and Cameron Satterwhites heave from just beyond halfcourt missed after the second.Aundre Jackson scored 20 points to lead Loyola (5-2), which led by as many as 11 points in the first half.Ben Richardson had 16 points for the Ramblers, who made 10 of 17 3-point attempts.Doyle had 12 points and Clayton Custer had 11 for Loyola.BIG PICTURELoyola: With their lack of size inside, the Ramblers are going to have trouble defending around the basket just as they did against the Wolfpack. But their spread offense is legit, and they gave N.C. State fits with it. Loyola had clear driving lanes to the basket and open 3-point attempts from all over the court throughout the game.N.C. State: The Wolfpack struggled defensively and got almost no production from their interior players against an undersized opponent. They continue to excel in the open court offensively, but they must improve defensively as conference play approaches. Weve got one guy wearing a blue sock and one guy wearing a green sock, N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. Two guys trying to guard are not on the same page. Weve got to get on the same page.HIGHLIGHT REELSmith showed his outstanding leaping ability early in the second half. Johnson missed a layup in transition, and Smith rebounded and dunked the ball in one motion to give the Wolfpack a 55-52 lead.HE SAID ITI love my team. The thing I can say most is that in that locker room, they were genuinely upset. They were hurting big-time. They came in here not to come close; they came in here to win. Thats a great sign when youre trying to develop culture in a program. -- MoserINJURIESN.C. State swingman Maverick Rowan missed his fifth consecutive game due to a concussion. Gottfried said Rowan will continue to be evaluated each day, but there is no timetable for his return.Wolfpack post player BeeJay Anya left the game late in the first half after being poked in the eye. He was cleared to return in the second half but did not re-enter the game.UP NEXTLoyola hosts Norfolk State on Wednesday night in the first game of a four-game homestand.N.C. State plays at Illinois on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Tennessee Titans Jerseys . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. A.J. Brown Youth Jersey . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. http://www.authentictitanspro.com/Curley-culp-titans-jersey/ .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Steve McNair Youth Jersey . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Corey Davis Jersey . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. A year ago tonight was the most terrifying hour of NBA referee Billy Kennedys life.It wasnt the night Rajon Rondo called him a m-----f---ing f----t. Nor was this the moment Kennedy released a statement a few days later acknowledging, to a big audience for the first time, I am proud to be an NBA referee and I am proud to be a gay man.Kennedy then did something that evening he has done literally since elementary school: He put on a refs uniform and prepared to call a game. This night though, for the first time, he took to an NBA court as someone new, feeling the full weight of being true to himself. How would fans react? Would a player humiliate him? What if someone ran onto the floor and tried to stab him?The route from locker room to court during warmups is the most familiar terrain in Kennedys life. In any NBA arena Kennedy could complete the walk blindfolded. But the most lonely place in the world can be a building packed with 19,000 strangers, with your friends a thousand miles away. Kennedy admits he was a wreck that night.This game happened to be in San Antonio, which at first seemed to matter not at all. But a few steps down the hall Kennedy bumped into Spurs executive R.C. Buford. Buford asked if Kennedy was OK, and Kennedy surprised them both by hugging the general manager. To Kennedys even bigger surprise, Buford didnt let go.At the most vulnerable moment of Kennedys life, Buford had several options. He couldve offered a pleasantry -- just enough to clear the threshold of compassion. He could have stressed the optics of one teams general manager offering aid and comfort to a person who can swing his teams fortunes. He could have shrunk from the sheer awkwardness in a professional setting of being pulled into the body of a man he didnt really know. Instead, Buford just hugged him.On the court, Utahs Trevor Booker -- now the Brooklyn Nets starting power forward -- saw Kennedy standing in a daze alone near the scorers table. Booker took the opportunity to breeze over to Kennedy. Much respect to you, Booker said with a nod, then was on his way.It was the right thing to do, Booker says looking back.Like just about every player in the NBA, Booker has no relationship with Kennedy. By edict of the league, Booker and Kennedy arent even allowed to exchange pleasantries should they run into each other at a restaurant. For Booker, the decision to acknowledge Kennedys achievement wasnt inspired by political conviction or any great affinitty for Kennedy.dddddddddddd What inspired Booker was empathy for someone enduring a life experience of incredible magnitude.Eventually the house lights dimmed for introductions. Thats when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich approached Kennedy and delivered a pep talk that Kennedy swears he remembers verbatim.You have more guts, you have more balls than anybody I know, Popovich told him. You have more courage than anybody I know. Now, go out there and kick ass.When Kennedy later called fellow NBA referee Scott Twardoski and shared Popovichs words with his friend, I could tell he was smiling as he was saying it. Through the phone I could tell how much that interaction meant. It was like, if you can have a smile and a tear in your eyes at the same time, thats how he came across on the phone.Three and a half minutes into the game, Kennedy whistled Rodney Hood for a shooting foul on LaMarcus Aldridge underneath, but Hood hadnt made contact with Aldridge. At the first opportunity, Kennedy walked over to Utah head coach Quin Snyder to acknowledge the error.I said, Hey, I kicked the play. Its an absolute wrong call, says Kennedy. [Snyder] looked at me and he goes, We dont get them all right. Youre OK.Like Buford, Snyder had any number of reactions available to him -- a simple nod of muted appreciation, a few grousing words under his breath, an imperative to Kennedy to make it up to the Jazz later in the game, silence. Presented with a full menu of options, Snyder composed a message that spoke to Kennedys professional pride, something Kennedy values as much as anything. To a man who was alone in the world that night, Snyder used the first person plural -- We dont get them all right.Kennedy has been the beneficiary of similar interactions this season from the likes of Blake Griffin, Steve Kerr and Mike Breen, each of whom made a point to approach Kennedy and honor his personal achievement. Those individuals, like Buford, Booker, Popovich and Snyder, exhibited awesome acts of generosity and it didnt cost them anything other than a mindful awareness of another mans burden. Isolation is a force multiplier of lifes struggles. Recognition, bearing witness and a little human contact can bring real relief. A touch, a few words, an expression of empowerment, a willingness to let something go. Small acts of generosity that play big. ' ' '