CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- North Carolina forward Cameron Johnson expects to play on Friday when the Tar Heels take on Lipscomb in their NCAA Tournament opener.

The graduate transfer suffered an injury to his hip and back against Miami on Thursday and re-aggravated the back injury after a fall in the second half against Virginia on Saturday. Johnson did not play in the final 6:20 of the ACC Championship game.

UNC head coach Roy Williams said that Johnson did not practice on Tuesday during Carolina's short shootaround nor did he take part in the Heels' lifting session.

"If we had to play today, he wouldn't play at all," Williams said about Johnson. "It's a back issue more than anything else. I think he'll be able to play (on Friday) because we've still got three days... I would think that he would be able to make a lot of improvement, but he did not play today and everyone else was fine."

Johnson is averaging 12.7 points per game

Johnson is taking a cautious approach but says his back is feeling better than it did on Saturday night in Brooklyn.

"I just wanted to give it a little bit more rest," Johnson told Inside Carolina on Tuesday in the Smith Center. "These games coming up are pretty important so I kind of wanted to be in the best condition I can be in. I feel like I am making some improvements and I expect to keep improving over the next couple of days."

"It's getting better," Johnson added about his back. "We have been putting a lot of work into it, seeing some people, making sure we are not endangering anything --- making sure we are in the best position for Friday."

Johnson revealed the type of treatment he is receiving: "Just some soft tissue stuff. Just kind of moving the spine. Trying to pinpoint exactly what might be wrong. We are still kind of weighing a couple of things --- then just icing, STEM, heat, whatever I can do to keep it a little looser."

When asked directly if he expects to play on Friday, Johnson was clear: "Yeah, I do."

Williams said he will lean on the doctors and trainers to inform him when Johnson can get back to practicing. UNC was off on Sunday and Monday. The team had a short weight session and shootaround on Tuesday. On Wednesday the Tar Heels will have a full practice and tape session before heading to Charlotte. They will then have a tape session on Lipscomb on Wednesday night.

North Carolina will hold a regular practice at an offsite location on Thursday before the open practice on Thursday inside Charlotte's Spectrum Center.

The No. 2 seed Tar Heels take on No. 15 seed Lipscomb on Friday, March 16 at 2:45 p.m. in Charlotte's Spectrum Center. The game can be seen on CBS.

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