Armando Bacot (ankle) 'ready to play' for North Carolina Tar Heels in men's basketball title game

NEW ORLEANS — North Carolina star big man Armando Bacot plans to play in the national championship game against Kansas on Monday night.

Bacot sprained his right ankle in UNC's 81-77 win over Duke in the Final Four on Saturday, left for less than a minute of game time and moved gingerly in the second half's final minutes. Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis said Bacot was slated to practice Sunday but stressed that the team's entire workout would be a limited. He said that the X-rays on Bacot were negative and the swelling wasn't overwhelming.

«He's ready to play tomorrow night,» Davis said.

Bacot is the most difficult player for UNC to replace if he's limited or hobbled. He's the program's leading scorer (16.3 PPG) and rebounder (13.1 RPG), and his rebounding total ranks No. 3 in the country. He ranks No. 8 in defensive rebound percentage (30.2%) and No. 21 in offensive rebound percentage (14.9%), per KenPom.com.

Bacot said on Sunday that he has been treated almost constantly since the game ended. After the X-rays, he said he spent two hours treating the ankle and then woke up and got into the pool to rehab on Sunday morning. He said that while working on a homework assignment for a sports facilities class on Sunday morning, he kept the ankle in compression sleeves. While meeting with the media Sunday afternoon he said he had stimulation treatment on it.

«We don't have another big man,» Bacot said, «so I don't have a choice.»

The options that the Tar Heels have behind Bacot aren't appealing. They could move 6-foot-9 forward Brady Manek to the 5-spot, which he played frequently against Kansas while at Oklahoma. That would create a difficult mismatch inside for UNC against Kansas' David McCormack, who is coming off a season-high