Harrison Barnes' injured left ankle will be a concern for North Carolina today when it plays at Maryland, its fourth road game in six outings.
Coach Roy Williams said that Barnes, a sophomore forward, thought the ankle was better Thursday, two days after he rolled it in a victory at Wake Forest.
Barnes was expected to try to practice Friday for the first time since the injury, but Williams said before practice he wasn't sure if Barnes will be able to play or how effective he might be if he does play.
"I won't know everything until after practice," Williams said. "And I shouldn't say 'everything' because if it swells up again after practice, I won't know until late, after we get up there to Maryland."
North Carolina didn't practice Wednesday and had a 50-minute workout Thursday that Barnes skipped. X-rays on Wednesday revealed no breaks, but the ankle was swollen, and Barnes did use crutches.
Williams played Barnes in the second half at Wake Forest, a 68-53 victory, after trainer Chris Hirth assured him that the ankle was only sprained. Barnes told Hirth and Williams he wanted to continue playing.
"In my mind, I think you're better to go ahead and play and not let it get stiff," Williams said. "And I think it's better long-term. Now I am no doctor, but from the experience of things in the past, that's the way I felt was best."
Barnes didn't practice Thursday because he was listed as questionable by Hirth and because Williams wanted to be cautious, for today's game and for Wednesday's ACC showdown against Duke at home.
"I decided it wasn't worth it and to hold him out," Williams said.
Barnes leads the Tar Heels in scoring (17.3 ppg), and they already have lost shooting guard Dexter Strickland for the rest of the season because of a knee injury. P.J. Hairston would most likely replace Barnes in the lineup.
The Tar Heels are 19-3 overall and 6-1 in the ACC heading into today's 4 p.m. game at the Comcast Center in College Park (ESPN Ch. 33). The Terrapins are 13-8 and 3-4 and have lost four of five.
Center Tyler Zeller was curious to see if Barnes could fully participate in practice.
"Truthfully, I don't know," Zeller said. "I haven't talked to him, so I don't know how bad or how good it is. That's between him and the training staff.
"If he shows up and plays, that will be great for us. If not, we'll all have to step up and fill in for him."
Whether Barnes plays today probably would depend on whether he practiced. Williams said he couldn't remember using a player who hadn't practiced the day before a game.
"If you are physically unable to perform one day, how much better can you be 24 hours later?" Williams said. "That's a general rule.
"But the good thing about being the head coach, you get to change your dadgum mind."
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