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GREENSBORO — From a distance, in his practice jersey the color of the March sky outside, Ty Lawson looked just like, well, Ty Lawson.

North Carolina's junior point guard — the ACC's player of the year — went about his work in practice on the shiny hardwood floor of the Greensboro Coliseum just like any other Tar Heels player Wednesday afternoon.

Lawson's passes were crisp and on the money. He hit his free throws. His shots from beyond the 3-point line went in more often than not.

But the lynchpin of Lawson's game is blazing speed. And on the eve of the NCAA tournament, he trotted slowly or walked through a 40-minute practice.

He never ran.

His coach said he couldn't.

When top-seeded North Carolina (28-4) takes on 16th-seeded Radford (21-11) in an NCAA South Regional first-round game around 2:50 p.m. today (WFMY-2), the Tar Heels will almost certainly do it without Lawson.

"There is a huge, huge probability that Ty will not play," coach Roy Williams said. "He was not able to do the things I wanted him to do in practice. So some things would have to change drastically before I would change my mind on that."

Lawson injured the big toe on his right foot during the Tar Heels' second-to-last practice of the regular season. An X-ray showed an old injury, a broken bone that had smoothed over and healed, but the swelling and pain were significant.

Lawson needed a pain-killing shot to play in the home finale against Duke. He played well — 13 points, nine assists — but afterward talked about running on four toes and complained of the numbed big toe affecting his balance.

Then it swelled. And it really hurt, causing a noticeable limp. He hasn't played since, watching Carolina's two games in the ACC tournament from the bench wearing a glorified bedroom slipper.

"The next day (after Duke), the swelling just surprised everybody," Williams said. "And the extent of the swelling surprised everybody. So it took a certain number of days to get the swelling down. Then the soreness is still there, the pain is still there. So I think it surprised everybody so far."

And don't look for Lawson to play hurt or to get another pain-killing shot to numb the toe.

"I told him I didn't want him doing that again," Williams said. "I'm not going to do that to a youngster. It's very safe -- let's make sure we understand one thing -- I'm not criticizing anybody. But I'm old-fashioned or I'm crazy or whatever. But I don't see (another shot) happening."

Even without Lawson, the Tar Heels will be a prohibitive favorite against Radford.

Carolina still has last year's ACC player of the year: four-time All-America power forward Tyler Hansbrough. The 6-foot-9 senior averages 21.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and he needs just three points to break the ACC career scoring record held by Duke alum J.J. Redick.

"He's the best player in college basketball right now," Radford center Artsiom Parakhouski said. "He plays hard every game. It's going to be a hard game against him. &ellipses; I'm going to be focused on defense against Hansbrough. I'm going to try and match up against him and play a physical game against him."

Parakhouski — a 6-11 junior from Minsk, Belarus — averages 16.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game to lead the Highlanders. He and 6-8 junior forward Joey Lynch-Flohr (13.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) give Radford the Big South's best frontcourt.

"I think Art and Joey will compete, and they'll do OK," Radford coach Brad Greenberg said. "They're hard-working kids. They're good players. They have size to match up. I'm glad we've got them on our side, that's for sure.

"Art's a developing player," Greenberg added. "He's played basketball for five years. Tyler Hansbrough, it seems like he's been a first-team All-American the last five years."

Besides Hansbrough, Carolina's Wayne Ellington (15.2 ppg), Danny Green (13.3 ppg) and Deon Thompson (11.2 ppg) all average double-figure scoring.

And the Heels have a senior, Bobby Frasor, to fill in for Lawson.

"Our challenge is to be more efficient offensively now without (Lawson) and to do a better job running the ball without him, too," Williams said. "We've had a couple of days' practice to try to get better."

And if Carolina moves on to Saturday, maybe the Heels' big toe will be ready to go.

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