coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. While the

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Its unclear whether point guard Joel Berry II will return from an ankle injury for seventh-ranked North Carolinas weekend game against No. 6 Kentucky.Berry has missed the past two games after spraining his left ankle. Coach Roy Williams said Thursday the junior was scheduled to go through a limited practice later in the afternoon. Williams said Berry participated in some light shooting and running in recent days amid an altered team schedule due to semester exams, while Williams has been traveling for recruiting.I am not optimistic at all, but Im not pessimistic, Williams said. I havent seen him. And I have no opinion.Teammate Justin Jackson sounded more hopeful that Berry would be ready for the Wildcats (9-1) on Saturday in Las Vegas.I would expect him just because of the type of competitor he is, Jackson said. Hes had quite a bit of time off to get that ankle right. But I guess well see how hes doing. He seems like hes pretty upbeat about playing, so well see I guess coming out for practice and see what Coach says.Berry is second on the team in scoring (14.8) while shooting 49 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range. He hasnt since he came up hobbled on a drive, fell to the floor then headed to the locker room with 17:36 left in the Dec. 4 win against Radford.While Williams has refused to blame Berrys absence for any oncourt troubles, the reality is the Tar Heels badly miss Berrys finish-through-contact toughness, competitive edge and leadership. Berrys absence has touched every part of UNCs play, and everything has been a bit out of step without him.The Tar Heels were averaging 89.6 points and shooting 50.4 percent entering the Radford game. With Berry out, they averaged 78 points and shooting 38.8 percent in home wins against Davidson and Tennessee.UNC leaned on Jacksons 27 points and career-high seven 3-pointers against Davidson to get through a game that saw UNC let a 16-point lead slip to three in the final 2 minutes. But Jackson struggled to a 3-for-15 shooting day and the Tar Heels got nothing from their top frontcourt players against Tennessee, trailing by 15 in the first half before rallying late for a 73-71 win.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25 John Smoltz Braves Jersey . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Josh Tomlin Jersey . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. https://www.cheapbraves.com/963o-chipper-jones-jersey-braves.html . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Anthony Swarzak Braves Jersey . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. Mark Melancon Braves Jersey . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. While the setup to the American League Championship Series was almost a casual affair, arranging the NLCS participants was quite a bit rougher, especially that Dodgers-Nationals series, which culminated in the longest nine-inning game in postseason and National League history.The Cubs dealt with a few bumps and bruises along the way, but nothing compared to the exhausting gauntlet the Dodgers went through to come back from a 2-1 deficit, draining the rotation and bullpen, and using pretty much every last player on the roster.dddddddddddd Less than 48 hours after beating the Nationals, the Dodgers will be in Chicago trying to do it all over again.NLCS game-by-game starters were not set at press time, but we can make pretty good educated guesses as to what the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers rotations will look like.Series odds ' ' '