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Buffaloed: Colorado tops Arizona to claim Pac-12 crown

Mar 11, 2012 - 6:00 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Spencer Dinwiddie scored 14 points and Colorado downed Arizona, 53-51, in Saturday's Pac-12 title game to earn its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2003.

The sixth-seeded Buffaloes (23-11), in their inaugural year in the Pac-12, became the first team in the tournament's history to capture the title by winning four games in four days. They defeated Utah in the opening round, third-seeded Oregon in the quarterfinals and California in Friday's semifinals.

Dinwiddie made all four of his three-point attempts on Saturday, while Carlon Brown scored 13 points and Andre Roberson added 10 and 11 rebounds.

Kyle Fogg scored 14 to pace Arizona (23-11), but missed a potential winning three-pointer at the buzzer. Solomon Hill had 13 points and Jesse Perry chipped in 11.

The Wildcats, who were seeded fourth, have fallen in the Pac-12 title game in back-to-back seasons and will now await the NCAA Tournament selection committee's ruling on Sunday.

"(I) had the same feeling this year as we did last year," said Arizona coach Sean Miller. "I'm really proud of our team and program for being in the championship game of this tournament in back-to-back years. It's not easy to get here."

Colorado took control of a back-and-forth contest in the second half and grabbed its largest lead of the game, 48-36, at the midway point.

The Wildcats, though, unfurled a methodical 11-3 run to cut their deficit to four, 51-47, on a pair of free throws from Perry with a minute left.

Brown answered on the other end, driving to the hoop and throwing down an one- handed slam. The emphatic dunk made it 53-47, prompted an Arizona timeout and ended an 8 minute, 17 second Colorado field-goal drought.

"I was just going to the rack strong, something coach was preaching every timeout," said Brown. "Wasn't going to be lackadaisical, so I just attacked the basket and jumped with all my might."

Fogg was fouled out of the timeout and made two free throws. Nate Tomlinson then threw the ball away as he crossed half court and Hill made a contested shot in the paint to cut the Wildcats' deficit to two, 53-51.

They got the ball back with 15 seconds left after Austin Dufault missed a pair from the foul line. With no timeouts left, Fogg received a pass and pulled up his dribble near the wing and fired a contested shot which fell short of the rim at the buzzer.

Colorado had held a 30-28 lead at the break and opened the second half with a 14-5 surge to grab a double-digit lead at 44-33.

Game Notes

Colorado played its first conference tournament title game since falling to Oklahoma in the Big Eight Conference final in 1990...USC was the last No. 6 seed to win the Pac-12 Tournament, accomplishing the feat in 2009...Arizona was seeking its first Pac-12 Tourney title since 2002...Colorado leads the all-time series, 10-6.