Hail To The Hallux

FOR A WEEKEND THE MOST DISCUSSED digit in America was not the first seven in President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package. It was Ty Lawson's right big toe. � That digit, badly jammed in practice nearly two weeks before, was still swollen and sore going into the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 19, limiting Lawson's ability to plant and cut—a crucial skill for North Carolina's junior point guard, the ACC Player of the Year and engine of the team's fast-paced offense. And so it was that a toe dictated Carolina's chances to be included in college basketball's most hallowed digit, the Final Four.

Coach Roy Williams wisely decided to rest his ailing star as the South Region's top seed played its first-round opponent, No. 16 Radford, before a partisan crowd an hour down Tobacco Road in Greensboro. The only drama was how senior forward Tyler Hansbrough would break the ACC career scoring mark. He entered the NCAA tournament trailing Duke's J.J. Redick by two points, and though Hansbrough joked that he wanted to set the record with either a three or a dunk, he eventually did so at the free throw line, which was altogether more fitting considering he has made more free throws during his career than any other college player. Oh, and UNC beat Radford 101-58.

The SEC regular-season champs, LSU, the South's No. 8 team, awaited the Heels on Saturday evening after two more days of agonizing anticipation and analysis about Lawson's toe. On Friday scores of reporters stood and watched as the team trainer cozied the precious digit in gauze in the locker room. Lawson's status was jokingly referred to as "toe be determined." Only moments before player introductions was his number 5 posted on the video scoreboard along with the rest of the starters.

Lawson, however, scored only two points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half, and about halfway through the period he sat on the bench, grimacing, with his shoe off and his toe being tended to by the trainer. "I was just trying to get back in there," Lawson recalled.

The spirit was there, but the flesh didn't catch up until the Heels found their backs to the wall. A nine-point halftime lead evaporated in less than three minutes, thanks to a 13-3 LSU spurt. At the 17:02 mark Williams called timeout and barked at his seniors, "Is this how you want your careers to end? Then continue to play like this."

It took a few minutes, but Williams's message got across, as UNC outpaced the Tigers 43-28 down the stretch for an 84-70 win, keyed by Lawson, who scored 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the second half. He finished with six assists and no turnovers.

"Once the adrenaline got going and the crowd got behind us, I felt like [the toe] was getting better," said Lawson. It helped, of course, to have junior shooting guard Wayne Ellington, who shot 9 of 16 for 23 points of his own.

In the end what mattered was that North Carolina advanced to Memphis for the South Region semifinals and that the saga of Ty Lawson's toe had passed—and not a moment too soon. One radio reporter asked at least two Carolina players after the game if they thought Lawson was feeling any pain in the second half. "I don't have his toe," Hansbrough drily replied.