Nic Wise Guard ranks high in Pac-10 stats.

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Just when Kevin O'Neill's small lineup began solidifying, the motor broke down.

UA point guard Nic Wise will miss four to six weeks after undergoing knee surgery for a torn meniscus Wednesday, meaning he may not return for the rest of the regular season. Wise, a 5-foot-9-inch sophomore, has excelled in Pac-10 play, averaging 11.8 points and 4.7 assists while ranking among league leaders in several statistical categories.

Moreover, Wise's steady play at point guard has allowed standout freshman guard Jerryd Bayless more freedom on the wing. O'Neill has called the small lineup, which he has used heavily for more than a month, his most talented.

"We're going to miss Nic big time," said O'Neill, UA's interim head coach. "He's been a very great, valuable part of our team."

Now, after having already gone without Bayless for four games because of a sprained knee, O'Neill has to try to find a new successful combination somehow.

"I'm gonna spend my whole night tonight figuring it out," O'Neill said after Wednesday's practice. "We have to move forward. It would be better moving forward with everyone healthy, but that's not the case. I have a lot of faith in this team that they'll step up and play good basketball."

O'Neill said he was unsure whether Bayless would move back to full-time point guard duties or whether senior reserve Daniel Dillon might fill in, but O'Neill said both Dillon and wing Zane Johnson will be playing more in Wise's absence.

Dillon, a combo guard, has averaged 15.2 minutes while playing in 19 of UA's 22 games and averaging 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds. Johnson has averaged 3.9 minutes in eight games since coming out of a redshirt year Jan. 9.

While both players have been used more as the Pac-10 season has progressed, Wise had solidified himself as an integral part of the rotation, either off the bench or as a starter. In conference play, he ranks first in the Pac-10 in steals per game (2.44) and three-point percentage (56.7), and he is third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.63-to-1) and fourth in assists (4.67).

In addition, Wise displayed a resiliency that was never more apparent than last weekend, when he played a total of 68 minutes at USC and UCLA despite suffering the injury during warm-ups before the Jan. 31 game with the Trojans.

"The kid is tough," O'Neill said. "He's tough."

Wise's father, Greg, said he was not surprised to hear his son played through pain, especially after he spent last summer in Houston under the rugged tutelage of former NBA coach John Lucas.

"That's how he is," Greg Wise said. "He's felt pain in his knee before, and that went away, so he thought it was the same thing. He just kind of kept playing."

Greg Wise said he advised Nic to have the surgery even though Nic wanted to keep playing.

Wednesday's surgery was not a stitched repair, but a removal of the damaged cartilage, which will allow him to heal faster, according to UA team spokesman Richard Paige. If Wise returns right at the four-week mark, he might play in UA's final regular-season weekend at Oregon State and Oregon.

Otherwise, Wise could return for the March 12-15 Pac-10 tournament or the NCAA tournament that begins the following week.

● Junior forward Fendi Onobun returned to practice Wednesday after O'Neill had asked him to leave Tuesday's practice for unspecified reasons. "Fendi's fine," O'Neill said.

● UA signee Emmanuel Negedu will take his official recruiting visit to UA this weekend, said Jason Smith, Negedu's coach at Brewster (N.H.) Academy.