Walton Makes Father Proud

The big redhead was in the third row, just another Arizona fan wearing a big red T-shirt. And by game’s end, a huge smile.

Bill Walton stepped out of the Fox Sports Net broadcasting booth and spent the afternoon cheering on his son, Luke, and the rest of the Wildcats in the Pacific 10 Conference final at Staples Center.

The younger Walton’s performance was a lot like the music of the family’s favorite band, the Grateful Dead. It meandered along seemingly without focus before gathering steam and finishing with an extended jam that rocked the house.

The junior forward missed nine of 13 shots and had zero assists in the first half, which ended with Arizona trailing by eight points.

But in the second half he had eight assists, made seven of seven free throws and scored 13 of his 23 points as Arizona outscored USC by 18 and raced to an 81-71 victory.

Walton, who played all 40 minutes, was named tournament most valuable player and led off the net-cutting ceremony, an honor Coach Lute Olson said he richly deserved.

“He’s a guy with an unbelievable feel for the game,” he said. “What Luke does you don’t teach. His reactions are in his genes.”

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Freshman guard Salim Stoudamire was considered a can’t-miss prospect out of Lake Oswego, Ore.

And he almost couldn’t miss in this game.

The cousin of former Wildcat star Damon Stoudamire made nine of 10 shots and six of six free throws, leading all scorers with 29 points. He scored eight points in a row early in the second half when Arizona erased a deficit and seized control of the game.

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Winning the championship did not soften Olson’s stance against holding the tournament.

“We need to cut back on the number of conference games,” he said. “Us and USC played 21 games against conference opponents. That’s too many.

“The administrators have to ask themselves, do they have student-athletes’ best interest at heart?”

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Steve Henson