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CHAPEL HILL — Some time in the next few days, there's a pretty good chance that four-time All-American Tyler Hansbrough will set the ACC career scoring record and break North Carolina alum Sam Perkins' school career record for rebounds.

Some time in the next few days, chances are good that Danny Green or Wayne Ellington or Deon Thompson will do something remarkable as the nation's No. 1 team gets to work in the ACC tournament.

But of all the stars on North Carolina's roster, all eyes will be on ACC Player of the Year Ty Lawson. Fans and haters alike will watch the junior point guard closely, looking for signs of a limp.

The big toe is a big deal.

Lawson — who averages 15.9 points, 6.5 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 29.4 minutes per game — injured the big toe on his right foot during practice Friday. X-rays showed evidence of an old fracture, but no new break.

But it still hurt like crazy. And Lawson still needed a pain-killing shot just to play in the regular-season finale against Duke. And now the Tar Heels start the postseason and the daily grind of tournament play as they vie for their third straight ACC title.

"They say it's something that takes quite a while to go away," coach Roy Williams said Monday. "We're off (Monday), and then (Tuesday) it's just a running-and-shooting kind of program and we're going to hold Ty out. Hopefully, those 72 hours will be really good for him, but I don't think anybody really knows. I think each youngster reacts to that kind of injury much differently, so we'll have to wait and see with Ty."

Lawson is a tough kid. But his game is built around speed, and he said he felt off balance against Duke, as if he was running on just four toes.

Carolina dreams of an ACC title and an NCAA title. That's nine games worth of running on four toes.

"He was in quite a bit of pain when it happened on Friday," Williams said. "It was just sore when he tried to push off on it, but not a severe pain on Saturday. Then (Sunday) night after the game he was in quite a bit of pain again. We'll just have to wait and see."

The Tar Heels have plenty of offensive firepower.

Hansbrough, a 6-foot-9 senior, led the ACC in scoring at 21.1 points per game and led the Tar Heels with 8.1 rebounds per game.

Ellington averages 14.9 points, Green 13.9 points and Thompson 11.2. That's all five starters averaging double-figure scoring, making UNC the only team in the ACC with such numbers.

But as such, the Tar Heels will be targets for teams desperate to show the NCAA's selection committee something.

"I think you've got to play well on that day," Williams said. "&ellipses; I always use an old expression: Our 'want-to' has to be just as big as their 'want-to.' We've got to have the same enthusiasm, same intensity and then play."

It sounds easy enough for a team that started the preseason ranked No. 1 and finished the regular season No. 1. But in between, there was roster turmoil. The Heels are still without top defender Marcus Ginyard (medical redshirt) and key reserve Will Graves of Greensboro (suspension).

Freshman 7-footer Tyler Zeller came back from a broken wrist, but has looked overmatched at times against ACC competition.

It's the competition that makes the league special, Williams said.

"If you have seven wins in our league, and you put those on the board and compare them to seven wins somebody else has, I think it's got to stand up well," Williams said. "This has just been a phenomenal league — the competition, the quality of the teams. It's going to be a shame if we spend so much time beating up everybody that in the end it hurts some of our teams getting in (the NCAA tournament)."

 Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com