Kevin Parrom sits the second half with nerve pain

Arizona forward Kevin Parrom sat out the second half of Saturday’s home loss to Washington due to nerve pain in his right leg and foot, according to head coach Sean Miller.

Parrom returned to Arizona’s bench halfway through the second half with a boot on his right foot, the same foot that was originally hampered by a gunshot on Sept. 24, 2011. Miller said the injury “could be” related to the original gunshot injury.

“He had a lot of nerve pain,” MIller said. “He got hit in either the leg or the foot and the fact that he’s confused on whether it’s his leg or foot kind of showed you that it triggered off a lot of the symptoms that he’s had since he was shot this fall. We’ll know more in the next few days.”

Miller said that if Parrom’s injury is nothing more than nerve pain, the Wildcats should have him back for their two-game series at the Bay Area schools next weekend. But as of Saturday, Miller and his staff weren’t certain of Parrom’s exact injury or timetable.

What Miller was certain of was the effect Parrom’s absence had on the game. The junior forward scored seven points, grabbed three boards and dished out two assists in the first half as the Wildcats took a three-point lead into the locker room. But without Parrom Arizona fell apart.

“We missed him, no question about it,” Miller said. “Kevin right now is a starter, he is. The Colorado and Utah swing was really the first time where we’ve seen him running and playing confident. Almost had his full strength against Washington State. Our margin for error is razor thin without him that’s for sure. It would be nice if he could just catch a break.”

Solomon HIll seconded Miller’s statement as he said, “Just the way he’s been playing lately, this is supposed to be his breakout time. For him to go down low that, it really took a toll on our team and we lost.”