Walton whisperer

Because Joe Sullivan is the ESPN statistician assigned for every game Bill Walton and Dave Pasch work together, that means he doesn’t just dig into actual basketball stats.

On Saturday, for example, Sullivan dug up some notable birthdays, including musician Lou Reed (March 2, 1942) and chemist/activist Linus Pauling (Feb. 28, 1901), trying to augment the deep research Walton does himself before every game. (But he did also give some basketball stats to Pasch).

Sometimes Walton will use Sullivan’s info, and sometimes he won’t. Then again, nobody ever really knows where Walton is going with anything. There’s always a surprise.

“This is a different gig because of him,” Sullivan said. “He’s unpredictable.”

But the secret to working with Walton and Pasch is that there is no secret. That is, if you’ve watched any of their broadcasts.

“The way they are on the air — that’s who they are,” Sullivan said.

No. 1 pick blues

One of Sullivan’s basketball stats Saturday: That the average reduction in wins after a college basketball team loses a No. 1 NBA Draft pick is eight.

Arizona is slightly below that pace: The Wildcats have 17 wins after having 22 at the same point of the season a year ago.

Among the outliers: Oklahoma won 17 fewer games after losing Blake Griffin to the No. 1 pick in 2009, and Washington gained 12 wins after losing Markelle Fultz to the No. 1 spot in 2017.

Last go-round

Saturday was the last Arizona regular-season game covered by the Walton-Pasch duo, though they are scheduled to work three games together for ESPN in the Pac-12 Tournament: The last quarterfinal game on Thursday, the late semifinal on Friday and the championship on Saturday.

Walton said he was not surprised to see the Wildcats pull off three straight wins entering Saturday after their seven-game losing streak.

“I’m never surprised by anything good that Sean Miller does,” Walton said.

Walton also praised Washington coach Mike Hopkins for giving Cal credit in earning their shocking win over the Huskies, while noting, of course, how competitive the Pac-12 has been this season.

No joy that time

Not a good vibe in Oregon for Bill Walton back then pic.twitter.com/q0eFz03yeC

— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) March 3, 2019

As much as Walton might gush about visiting Oregon, it hasn’t been all good for him.

Blended into the murals that front the Matthew Knight Arena is Sports Illustrated’s Feb. 25, 1974, cover titled “UCLA’s Lost Weekend,” when the Bruins lost to both Oregon and Oregon State after having won 50 straight conference games.

The SI cover is also featured across the street at the Wild Duck Café.

“That’s OK,” Walton said. “They got us that weekend.”

Balancing whiz

“Amazing Tyler” halftime show pic.twitter.com/RI4L1sNq54

— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) March 3, 2019

Tyler Scheuer’s website says he has had the “No. 1 most booked halftime act in college basketball,” and Oregon was probably a satisfied customer.

What’s billed simply as “Tyler’s Amazing Balancing Act” lived up to its billing: Scheuer balanced all manner of objects on the bridge of his nose and chin, things such as bike, wheelbarrow and scooter.

He also balanced a ladder while climbing on a ladder, danced while balancing the wheelbarrow and finished by balancing a gigantic ladder at center court.

But, T-shirts

A year ago when Arizona visited Matthew Knight Arena, Oregon’s Pit Crew waved “100 Grand” posters and all manner of other signs at Deandre Ayton and booed him every time he touched the ball, with ESPN having reported a day earlier that coach Sean Miller reportedly discussed a pay-for-play scheme.

But on Saturday, the Oregon students mostly just stood and cheered their team, with a few of them waving the free foam “hang loose” hand gesture that Dutch Bros. provided.

Nearly all of them wore the green “Fly With Us” T-shirts that were given out before the game.

No crazy line for Pit Crew to get in this time, and they get free T-shirts if they show up. pic.twitter.com/ZPir2bMB3s

— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) March 3, 2019

Egyptian honor

With a near-constant stream of Canadians having played under Oregon coach Dana Altman — plus Arsalan Kazemi of Iran — the school started a senior-night tradition of playing the national anthem of any senior from another country.

So on Saturday, in honor of guard Ehab Amin, it was the Egyptian national anthem.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Amin played a year of high school ball in Wisconsin before enrolling at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, from which he left last summer to become a grad transfer for the Ducks.

Amin speaks Arabic, English and French.

THANK YOU SENIORS for all you do...but we aren't done yet! #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/7VlHdrhZo1

— Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) March 3, 2019

The big number

12

First-half turnovers for Arizona, more than the Wildcats have had over all of their previous six games. UA turned the ball over just three times in the second half.