Arizona guard Brandon Williams (2) shovels a pass around UCLA center Moses Brown (1) to teammate forward Ira Lee (11) in the second half of their Pac-12 game at Pauley Pavilion, Saturday, January 26, 2019, Los Angeles, Calif.

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

The way Sean Miller described it Tuesday, Brandon Williams' knee pain appears to be related to the congenital knee issue that cost him nearly a year of basketball in high school. 

“I think what I’m being told it’s just part of the path that he’s traveling, with the surgery that he had and the problem that maybe he had before he got here to Arizona,” Miller said during his weekly news conference. The Wildcats host Washington on Thursday night. 

Williams had surgery in January 2017 to correct a congenital issue on his right knee and rehabilitated the injury for 10 months before finishing out his senior year of high school. 

Miller said there have been a "couple of times" where Williams experienced pain or swelling since arriving at UA last summer, and the freshman responded with rest.

This time, Miller said Williams “did not sustain an injury” of a new nature. That isn’t much consolation for the Wildcats or Williams: He’s out indefinitely, at a time when he was playing his best of the season — and when the first-place Huskies are coming to town.

“As we’ve shut him down, that pain has had a hard time going away and now it’s in his best interests just to make sure that we know everything that’s going on,” Miller said.

So “we shut him down, kind of allow that pain to diminish and the hope is every day, every week it diminishes and at some point this season he potentially could return. But I don’t know when that date is. I don’t know any more than that right there. And I’ve got my fingers crossed for him that he’ll be OK because he’s obviously a terrific player playing the best basketball of his career at Arizona and as somebody who’s already kind of paid the price with that knee in that he’s gotten through a hard part before he got here.”

MORE: Wildcats' Justin Coleman will shoulder even larger load with Brandon Williams out

Miller said Justin Coleman will need to play more minutes and keep out of foul trouble with Williams out, while Alex Barcello will soak up backup point guard minutes. Brandon Randolph and Dylan Smith, of course, will be counted on for more of the same.

“That’s the hard part about it, but it’s up to us to adjust,” Miller said. “The good thing is that everybody who is practicing will have a big role. We’re really counting on everybody right now.”

The Wildcats were able to get more than expected from center Chase Jeter at ASU after he missed the previous two games with a stiff back. Miller said the Wildcats also took advantage of the extra time after that game to give everyone a mix of rest and work: They took Friday off, went lightly on Saturday, practiced fully on Sunday and then took Monday off.

Miller declined comment on a Yahoo Sports report that said he is expected to be subpoenaed during the Christian Dawkins trial in April, and also declined to comment on the status of the NCAA’s investigation.

On a Pac-12 teleconference call, Washington coach Mike Hopkins said forward Noah Dickerson is “day to day” and declined to say what his chances were of playing Thursday after suffering a sprained ankle on Saturday against UCLA.

Watch more highlights from Miller's news conference here: 

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