UNC's Davis still listed as questionable

UNC will play N.C. State on Tuesday

By: Bill Cole | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: January 25, 2010

By Bill Cole
JOURNAL REPORTER
Ed Davis's playing status for North Carolina's game at N.C. State on Tuesday is questionable, Coach Roy Williams said Monday.
Davis, a 6-10 center, is still hobbled by a sprained left ankle that sidelined him in last week's 82-69 loss to Wake Forest.
"If we had played the game yesterday, we would not have played him," Williams said late Monday morning. "We tried to get him involved in practice a little bit Saturday and a little bit Sunday, and he's just not at the level that he can push off the ankle and can jump off that leg.
"It's very questionable whether he'll play tomorrow night. It would have to be in my mind a very significant improvement for him to do that."
Davis is UNC's second-leading scorer (14.7 ppg) and leading rebounder (9.8 rpg).
Tuesday's game will tip off at 9 p.m. at the RBC Center.
"He's frustrated by it; I don't think there's any question," Williams said. "He was frustrated in the second half of the Georgia Tech game when he couldn't play the way he normally plays."
Tyler Zeller, a 7-0 sophomore and UNC's top frontcourt reserve, is still recovering from a stress fracture in his right foot. He is scheduled for an X-ray on Monday at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and will have an MRI exam Thursday to see how the fracture is healing.
Williams could not say if Zeller — who has missed the last three games — is ahead of or behind schedule his recovery.
"I don't know that they (team doctors) can make that kind of assessment right now," Williams said. "He's getting a lot of treatment. He's wearing the (protective) boot. He's in the pool.
"I'm not knowledgeable about it enough to know what they can tell, but I know they can't tell anything until they get the X-ray today and the MRI on Thursday."
bcole@wsjournal.com.