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. Discount Curry Shoes .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. Wholesale Curry Shoes . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. http://www.curryshoescheap.com/ . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. Curry Shoes Outlet . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. Cheap Curry Shoes For Sale . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. Under the bright Southern California sun, in the pool at Segerstrom High School in Santa Ana, 15 of the best water polo players in the U.S. are divided into three groups -- each group with one goalie and four field players. Three nets are set around the pool. The players take turns catching the ball with one hand, moving side to side into position and shooting for a goal .From the far goal, shouting erupts and a player leaves the group to swim laps on his own. If you hear them yell -- Club! -- that means they missed [the shot] and have to swim Russians, says Carling McMichael, the sports medicine trainer. They can get pretty into it. Any chance they have to get competitive, they really go for it.On this April day, the U.S. mens national water polo team is in the midst of a four-day training session that starts daily at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m. This time together is important for their Olympic hopes -- both as a team and individually. In less than three months, on July 7, the 13-man roster for the Rio Games (Aug. 5-21) will be named.And after an eighth-place finish at the 2012 London Olympics -- a big departure from the silver won in 2008 --the U.S. is aiming for a podium finish in Rio. Its a two-week tournament, not one game, says 38-year-old goalkeeper Merrill Moses, who competed at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. You have to be at your best for the whole two weeks. You have to give everything to prepare and put yourself in the best possible situation. Its the biggest stage in sports and you train for four years for those two weeks.For now, though, its about avoiding the collective shout of Club!Yes, thats a yawn from defender Nic Carniglia. Its an early start for the 20-year-old and his teammates, who start the day in the gym. After the morning meditation, each player gets to choose a 20-second exercise or stretch for everyone before moving onto more strenuous exercises.With only 100 days out until the Rio Olympics, the teams focus is evident. Attacker Alex Bowen, 22, finds space outside to complete his morning dryland exercises. After about an hour-and-a-half in the gym, the team makes its way over to the pool for the rest of the day.Despite the seriousness of the teams training, there is also a lightheartedness to their interactions -- and the camaraderie is visible. A joke between goalkeepers McQuin Baron and Merrill Moses shows that. (Left to right: Moses, with back facing camera; John Mann; Baron; and Drew Holland)During circuits, the team is broken into three groups and three different stations. One group throws a medicine ball against the wall, one does side-sit-up toe touches and one performs sit-ups with overhead weights.Attacker Bret Bonanni works with a Thera-Band on resistance exercises. These exercises are an important part of building a well-rounded player by targeting muscles groups that are needed for both strong play and injury protection.Everyone jumps, dives or steps into the pool at the same time to start the pool workout. This first session lasts three hours. It begins with a swimming warm-up and moves into a passing warm-up.Once warm-up is done, various drills are performed to improve strength and agility. This group treads water while moving weighted balls quickly from side to side, tied to the edge of the pool with resistance bands. When finished, they move onto the next station.The mid-morning break divides the two back-to-back morning sessions, and the smoothies the team trainers prepare are one of the highlights.These players have each others back. And the sunscreen of choice? Coppertone Water Babies. Some use an even thicker skin-toned sunblock for their face, creating a mask to protect from the suns reflectiion off the water.ddddddddddddThe team is divided into offense and defense, and they go about running the set plays. When the coach wants to make an adjustment for the offense, the defensive players are asked to go underwater so they cant hear.Toward the end of the week, players, including defender Alex Roelse here, take turns describing the set plays to each other. With so little time together as a group between now and the Olympics, the coach and the captain stress the importance of this activity. These plays are then put into action in the second pool session.Moses, 38 (in forefront), is the oldest member of the team. He balances the national team, assistant coaching for the water polo team at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and family life as he heads to his third Olympics. I say Im like a fine wine: I just keep getting better with age, the California native says. I can say that when I turn 39 at the Olympics games, Ill be in the best shape of my life.Baron explains that this afternoons torture for the three goalkeepers involves a water jug. He fills it with water and raises it upside down above his head, treading water as the jug empties. Our position is all legs, so we have to train differently, says Baron, Class of 2018 at USC. Some bottles you can swirl and it empties a little faster -- theres nothing you can do with this one. Its just horrible.Mann stands ready for the final challenge of the day against his teammates: 100-meter freestyle for time. Theres a particular challenge with team sports, Mann says. Learning to work with all of these different personalities, learning to control your ego and emotion and to sometimes lessen some of your own personal success for the betterment of the team to achieve your goals. Im not just playing for myself.In the lunch room, Carling McMichael, responsible for the teams sports medicine, helps the guys to sort out aches and the pains. Here, attacker Bonanni receives a massage while the others guys eat their lunch.Next stop for defender Jackson Kimbell? The dentist. He cracked his tooth during one of the scrimmages. While these players are training together for the Olympics, they often play against one another for their college or club teams and scrimmages can get just as physical as a game.At first glance, water polo might appear to be a low-contact sport, but theres plenty of contact above and below the surface. My face has scars everywhere, Mann says. Ive had probably 40 or 50 stitches in my face, teeth going through my lips -- been stitched on the side of the pool deck in Croatia with no anesthetic. It was like fishing line and moonshine on my face. Its a brutal sport.As the sun sets on a long day in the pool, Bowen sits out with a suspected dislocated rib. He remains attentive to the play and uses it as an opportunity to study from outside the water. The coaching staff, which includes head coach Dejan Udovicic -- former head coach of the Serbian national team -- is constantly giving the players feedback.The first pool session of the day is done. As soon as I get out of the pool, its all about recovery, Kimbell says. He will get a 30-minute break before returning to the pool for the second morning session.The second pool session of the day is done at 1:30 p.m., with the third session beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at 7 p.m. Before they depart to run errands, take a nap or relax between sessions, the guys head to the breakroom. The small portable at the edge of the pool serves as a meeting room for the coaches, a physical therapy space and a spot to eat lunch. ' ' '