North Carolina's Little (flu) plays vs. Auburn

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- North Carolinaforward Nassir Little, who missed the last two days of practice because of flu-like symptoms, checked into the Tar Heels' NCAA tournament game againstAuburnat the 13:25 mark in the first half.

Little, a freshman, is North Carolina's top reserve. He averaged 10 points per game this season and was the Tar Heels' leading scorer through their first two NCAA tournament games at 19.5 points per game.

"[Little] is just someone who can come off the bench and give you 15, 20 minutes and he'll be a factor,'' senior guard Kenny Williams said on Thursday, when there was some doubt about Little's availability for the Auburn game.