CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough, who has been sidelined since Oct. 28 with a stress reaction in his right shin, will be re-evaluated Tuesday, coach Roy Williams said.
The senior was not available for interviews after the Tar Heels’ 102-62 exhibition victory over UNC Pembroke, and it is still unknown whether he will be ready to play when No. 1 UNC opens the regular season on Saturday against Penn.
“It’s been weird for me in practice, because he’s only missed 2 and a half practices in three years,’’ Williams said. “So it’s really difficult for him; it’s been like nine or 10 days now, and the only thing we’ve let him do is shoot free throws. I don’t know that the youngster, since he’s gotten here, has every taken three days in a row off in July, much less right now. So it’s been difficult for him, much more so than the others.”
Hansbrough was one of four players on the bench in street clothes Saturday, joining Marcus Ginyard (out until December after foot surgery), Michael Copeland (still rehabilitating from offseason knee surgery) and freshman Justin Watts (who hurt his knee during Friday’s practice, and is still being evaluated.
Senior Danny Green noted their absences from the outset.
“I kind of noticed it when we went out in our layup lines [during pre-game],’’ he said, “I’m like, ‘What happened to our team? It’s half-way gone. Our team is loaded, but it doesn’t look like it.’ We usually have 17 guys, and there are four guys in suits on the sideline. So the layup lines we’re a lot shorter than usual.”
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
