KANSAS CITY, Mo. --- North Carolina freshman forward Nassir Little is expected to play on Friday night vs. Auburn, a UNC spokesperson told Inside Carolina on Friday afternoon. The Tar Heels and Tigers tip off at 7:29 p.m. EST at the Sprint Center.

Little will play barring any setbacks or changes. He was a full participant in Friday's morning team shootaround at the Sprint Center.

Little was experiencing flu-like symptoms on Wednesday and Thursday. He did not practice on Thursday nor did he travel with the team to the arena for a shootaround and media availability.

"He didn't feel good last night," UNC head coach Roy Williams said on Thursday afternoon. "He was running a little bit of a temperature this morning. Didn't feel like eating. I didn't bring him over here to the arena with us."

UNC freshman Nassir Little

Little has been UNC's sixth man and first player off the bench all season. The Florida native arrived at North Carolina as the No. 3 overall player in the 247Sports Composite ranking of the 2018 class.

Little was fantastic in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament -- arguably his best two performances of the season. He scored 19 points in 17 minutes against Iona and followed that up with 20 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes against Washington. He was 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) from the field in the two games.

Little is averaging 10.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He has played in all 35 games for the Tar Heels and is averaging 18.3 minutes per contest.

"For us to be as dangerous as we can be I have to play at a high level, so that's what I am trying to do," Little said after Sunday's win. "I was just attacking the weak spots in the zone... My teammates did a great job of finding me in those areas."

All season long, Little, a former 247Sports Composite five-star freshman, has been focused on winning. "If you know me, you know I came here to win," he said. "I have been saying that since day one. I could care less about the individual, I just want to win. I am blessed to be a part of it."