By R.L. Bynum

Junior Puff Johnson has missed No. 1 North Carolina’s first two games and will likely be out for at least two more as he recovers from a sore knee.

Coach Hubert Davis said Monday that he practiced Sunday and had limited reps Monday.

“He’s been given a full go in terms of being able to practice fully,” Davis said. “And my anticipation is for him to practice this entire week and be ready to go when we go out to Portland next week.”

That would mean the 6–8 Johnson would miss the first four games of the season, including home games on Tuesday at 8 p.m. against Gardner-Webb (ACC Network) and Sunday at noon against James Madison (ACC Network.)

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Carolina plays its opener of the Phil Knight Invitational on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24) in Portland against Portland, with games on Friday (against Iowa State or No. 16 Villanova) and Sunday (against either No. 18 Alabama, No. 25 UConn, Oregon or Michigan State).

Johnson missed 15 games last season because of COVID-19 protocols and then a sprained toe but scored in double figures at N.C. State (16 points), against Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament (11) and against Kansas in the national-championship game (11). He also had six rebounds against Kansas and six rebounds in the home victory over the Wolfpack.

Johnson will likely be a key player off the bench for a UNC team that only played seven players more than six minutes in the opening-game 69–56 victory over UNCW and only six players more than eight minutes in the 102–86 victory over College of Charleston.

UNC vs. Gardner-Webb

— 8:05 p.m. Tuesday at Smith Center
— Wes Durham and Dan Bonner on the ACC Network call
— Gardner-Webb, which went 18–13 last season, is 0–2 after a 65–63 Nov. 7 loss at Colorado State and an 86–71 Thursday loss at Stephen F. Austin.
— Carolina has won all five meetings, with each November games in the Smith Center and under Coach Roy Williams: 83–80 in 2005, 103–50 in 2006, 93–72 in 2009, 76–59 in 2012 and 77–61 in 2019.
— UNC is 177–18 all-time against non-conference in-state opponents.

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Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	Record
	October
28	Friday	W, 101–40	Johnson C. Smith	Home	Exhibition
	November
7	Monday	W, 69–56	UNCW	Home	1–0
11	Friday	W, 102–86	College of Charleston	Home	2–0
15	Tuesday	W, 72–66	Gardner-Webb	Home	3–0
20	Sunday	W, 80–64	James Madison	Home	4–0
			Phil Knight Invitational
24	Thursday	W, 89–81	First round: Portland	Portland	5–0
25	Friday	L, 70–65	Semifinals: Iowa State	Portland	5–1
27	Sunday	L, 103–101, 4 OTs	Consolation: No. 1 Alabama	Portland	5–2
			ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30	Wednesday	L, 77–65	No. 21 Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	5–3
	December
4	Sunday	L, 80–72	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	5–4, 0–1 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–59	Georgia Tech	Home	6–4, 1–1 ACC
13	Tuesday	W, 100–67	The Citadel	Home	7–4
			CBS Sports Classic
17	Saturday	W, 89–84, OT	Ohio State	New York	8–4
			Jumpman Invitational
21	Wednesday	W, 80–76	Michigan	Charlotte	9–4
30	Friday	L, 76–74	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	9–5, 1–2 ACC
	January
4	Wednesday	W, 88–79	Wake Forest	Home	10–5, 2–2 ACC
7	Saturday	W, 81–64	Notre Dame	Home	11–5, 3–2 ACC
10	Tuesday	L, 65–58	No. 14 Virginia	Charlottesville	11–6, 3–3 ACC
14	Saturday	W, 80–59	Louisville	Louisville, Ky.	12–6, 4–3 ACC
17	Tuesday	W, 72–64	Boston College	Home	13–6, 5–3 ACC
21	Saturday	W, 80–69	N.C. State	Home	14–6, 6–3 ACC
24	Tuesday	W, 72–68	Syracuse	Syracuse, N.Y.	15–6, 7–3 ACC
	February
1	Wednesday	L, 65–64	Pittsburgh	Home	15–7, 7–4 ACC
4	Saturday	L, 63–57	No. 12 Duke	Durham	15–8, 7–5 ACC
7	Tuesday	L, 92–85	Wake Forest	Winston-Salem	15–9, 7–6 ACC
11	Saturday	W, 91–71	Clemson	Home	16–9, 8–6 ACC
13	Monday	L, 80–72	No. 16 Miami	Home	16–10, 8–7 ACC
19	Sunday	L, 77–69	N.C. State	Raleigh	16–11, 8–8 ACC
22	Wednesday	W, 63–59	Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	17–11, 9–8 ACC
25	Saturday	W, 71–63	No. 14 Virginia	Home	18–11, 10–8 ACC
27	Monday	W, 77–66	Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	19–11, 11–8 ACC
	March
4	Saturday	L, 62–57	No. 12 Duke	Home	19–12, 11–9 ACC
			ACC tournament
8	Wednesday	W, 85–61	Boston College	Greensboro	20–12
9	Thursday	L, 68–59	No. 14 Virginia	Greensboro	20–13

Photo via @UNC_Basketball