John Henson Injury: Tar Heels Forward Questionable For Friday

North Carolina forward John Henson is still considered questionable for the Tar Heels' NCAA Tournament opener on Friday, head coach Roy Williams told reporters on Tuesday. The top-seeded Tar Heels are scheduled to play the winner of Lamar-Vermont, who play their the First Four matchup on Wednesday evening.

"If I had to guess -- and this is merely a guess -- if the game were today he probably still would not play today," Williams said. "But we're being hopeful that he will be Friday."

Henson sprained his left wrist after falling awkwardly during North Carolina's ACC quarterfinal against Maryland. He was unable to play in the rest of the ACC tournament, missing UNC's win in the semifinals over North Carolina State and loss in the championship game against Florida State.

"He affects the game in more ways than one -- obviously with the double-doubles he puts up on a consistent basis, but more so the shots he alters on a consistent basis on the defensive end," said teammate Kendall Marshall. "That may not show up in the stats, but you can tell teams weren't so worried about attacking us on the inside when the defensive player of the year isn't sitting in there."

Henson, a two-time ACC Defensive Player of the year, averaged 13.9 points, 10.1 points and 2.9 blocks per game this year. Without him, the Tar Heels blocked just a single shot against N.C. State and Florida State.

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