Lawson unlikely to play Thursday

GREENSBORO - North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson is unlikely to play in Thursday’s NCAA Tournament opener against Radford because of his jammed right big toe, coach Roy Williams said Wednesday.

“There’s a huge, huge probability that Ty will not play,” Williams said.

Lawson, who was held out of the ACC Tournament last week because of the injury, did not do any live drills during practice on Tuesday and wasn’t scheduled for live drills Wednesday.

“I didn’t do too many five-on-five things or anything like that,” Lawson said. “I was just running up and down the court, trying to get my foot loose and things like that.”

Lawson said he has steel plates in his shoes and a gel pad on the side of his foot, but that hasn’t made him comfortable enough to play.

Williams said he doesn’t think the injury will keep Lawson out long-term in the tournament, but said he’s surprised by how long the injury has lingered already.

Citing injuries to Lawson, Marcus Ginyard, Tyler Hansbrough and Tyler Zeller, Williams said he has never had so many health problems with players in one season.

“It’s been the most frustrating year I’ve ever had in 21 years as a head coach,” Williams said.

– Ken Tysiac