"I'm more skeptical that he'll play tomorrow than I was after [Wednesday's] game,'' coach Roy Williams said Friday. "Maybe this was wishful thinking, but I thought he [would] make more significant improvement. If he's not close to 100 percent, then I'm not going to play him."

Lawson injured the ankle two minutes into Saturday's win against BYU, then he sat out Wednesday's victory at Ohio State because he could not push off his right foot. Lawson said after the game he would "definitely" play today, but he only participated in about 25 percent of practice on Thursday, "and he was not going full speed," Williams said.

The sophomore is averaging 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds this season. If he can't go, junior Bobby Frasor will start his second straight game.

"He says he's going to play, but I get paid a lot of money to make those decisions,'' Williams said. "And if he is limping around, I am not going to play him."