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BLACKSBURG, VA – Armando Bacot gave it a go in warmups Sunday afternoon, but he just wasn’t healthy enough to play in North Carolina’s 80-72 loss at Virginia Tech.

Bacot was already battling a bum ankle sustained last weekend in Portland when he suffered a contusion to his right shoulder blocking a shot by Indiana’s Trace Jackson-Davis in a road loss Wednesday night.

Bacot hadn’t practiced since, and could go Sunday.

“It was a gametime decision,” he said after the game. “I wasn’t comfortable.”

The senior forward and Preseason ACC Player of the Year wasn’t sure how the shoulder would react to warming up, and just how limited he would be.

“I hadn’t practiced all week since the (Indiana) game, and was just in pain what I could (do), see if I could be able to shoot layups,” he said. “I couldn’t really do anything.”

There is no timetable for Bacot’s return to a team that has now lost four consecutive games and will fall out of the national rankings Monday, nine days after being the No. 1 team in the nation. He is receiving daily treatment, and indicated he doesn’t have to be 100 percent in order to return to action.

“Soft tissue stuff,” Bacot replied when asked about his treatment. “Needling, all those types of things. Working hard to try to get it back somewhat healthy.”

The Tar Heels (5-4) don’t play again until next Saturday when they host Georgia Tech at the Smith Center. Three days after that, they welcome The Citadel to the Dean Dome before a date with Ohio State in Madison Square Garden on December 17.

Whether or not Bacot plays between now and then is unknown.

“(It’s) more of a wait-and-see thing,” he said. “Whenever I feel better, and I don’t really know how long that will be.”

Bacot is averaging 16.1 points and 11.1 rebounds so far on the season.