ATLANTA — North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson did not practice today, a team spokesman said, and is unlikely to play when the top-seed Tar Heels play No. 8 seed Virginia Tech on Friday in the ACC tournament quarterfinals.
"We don't think he'll play, but we don't want to rule it out completely until we see how he does in the morning,'' spokesman Steve Kirschner said in a message.
Lawson, the ACC's Player of the Year, jammed his right big toe during last Friday's practice when he collided with a basket support. He started and played during UNC's victory against Duke on Sunday after receiving a shot that numbed the toe, but the toe swelled up afterwards, and Lawson has not practiced since.
Thursday, Lawson did some conditioning on a stationary bike, and shot some free throws in Chapel Hill before the team left for Atlanta.
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
Comments
Lawson Out?
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 04:36 — TruthorclosetoitI hope Lawson is rested. Why take a chance with making the injusy worse prior to the NCAAs? I hope Roy will give lots of rest to his starters, and lots of time to Davis, Zeller, Drew and Frazier against Tech. It can only help going into the real tournament. And, even if that turns out to be the dominant line-up, I won't be surprised to see UNC win.
lawson
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 21:44 — george32with pitt and okla losing while at full strength, i hope carolina's no 1 seed is protected with lawson out. wonder if roy will go with slow or inexperience at the point. i hope tylet gets the scoring record in atl but it is not likely now-one and done would not surprise.
I hope Lawson shows.....
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 18:05 — jeromfitzUp in the nick of time to help Carolina finish the ACC Tournament. I know he'll play next week in the NCAAs. It all or nothing time for sure. This tournament will be interesting since Carolina is not fully loaded and ready to play. I just want to see how different things are and who picks up where Lawson left off.