UNC's Nassir Little Questionable for Sweet 16 vs. Auburn Because of Flu

University of North Carolina freshman forward Nassir Little may not be available for Thursday's Sweet 16 game against the Auburn Tigers due to an illness.

Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams told reporters Little will be a game-time decision due to flu-like symptoms: 

"He didn't feel good last night. He was running a little bit of a temperature, running more of a temperature this morning. He didn't feel like eating. I didn't even bring him over here to the arena with us. ... He's sitting there [at breakfast on Thursday] and he has his plate in front of him, and it looked to me like it was hard to pick up that fork, and the last time I looked it wasn't very heavy."

While Little's college career is only 35 games old, he has an injury history. In mid-February, he went down with a right ankle injury in the first half of UNC's eventual loss to Virginia.

At the time, fellow freshman Coby White told Jonathan M. Alexander of The News & Observer how much Little's injury impacted the team: "Nas is one of our effective players off the bench. ... I think it hurts our off-the-bench scoring. If he scores 12 or 10, now we win if he's in the game."

White's commentary on the absence of 6'6" Little applies especially to the Tar Heels as they push for an NCAA title as a No. 1 seed. 

If Little is unable to play against Auburn, junior Brandon Robinson will likely be inserted into the starting lineup. 

Little has averaged 10.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game this season.