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Arizona-Oregon game blog: Cats win outright Pac-10 title

The Zona Zoo at the start of the second half.

Sean Miller addressing the crowd before the team cuts down the net under the south basket, talking about the program’s 12th Pac-10 title: “This isn’t our first Pac-10 championship, and it’s not going to be the last.”

Technically, the next conference title will be a Pac-12 championship … but, point taken.

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It’s over. Arizona beats Oregon 90-82 and wins the Pac-10 title outright. The Wildcats complete their first perfect season (17-0) at home since the 1998-99 season.

Arizona (25-6 overall and 14-4 Pac-10) will cut down the nets and hold a ceremony for senior Jamelle Horne immediately after the game.

Sean Miller on postgame CBS interview: “We’ve really done it as a team since day one, playing 10, 11 guys. … We have a true team.”

He added: “We have to add some defense to that equation starting from this point forward.”

Check back later for more postgame reaction …

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Jamelle Horne leaves the game with 27.5 second left and the crowd also gives him a standing ovation.

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Derrick Williams gets a standing ovation as he leaves the game with 1:07 to play.

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One more monster slam dunk at McKale for Derrick Williams. He throws down a running one-hander with 2:10 to play. Coming to YouTube in five, four, three…

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Oregon cut the lead to 70-64 at one point, and Arizona leads 74-66 with 3:35 left. Solomon Hill has 14 points, his best scoring output since going for 20 against Santa Clara on Nov. 26.

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Kyryl Natyazhko giving Arizona good minutes, with seven points and four rebounds. Saving his best Pac-10 game for last.

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Tweet from Javier Morales of TucsonCitizen.com: “Derrick Williams’ 265th/266th FTs attempts bests Khalid Reeves’ season record of 264. Says something bout Reeves, who was a guard,not a bruiser”

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Four fouls on Derrick Williams with 9:01 to play, as he picks up his second charging call of the game. The McKale crowd somewhat disagrees.

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With Derrick Williams shooting free throws with 11:10 to play, the student section starts chanting “One more year, one more year.”

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Oregon on a 15-5 run to cut the lead to 58-51 with 11:10 to play.

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Looks like Arizona got fat and happy with its big second-half lead. The Wildcats have made sloppy passes on offense and haven’t been getting back on defense. The Ducks have cut the lead to 56-49 with 12:26 to go.

Arizona’s biggest lead was at 53-36 with 16:15 to play.

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Scary moment for Kyle Fogg, who gets horizontal while trying to climb over Joevan Catron for a rebound. Fogg falls hard on his backside but gets up after only several seconds on the court. He does, however, come out of the game.

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Derrick Williams hits a 3-pointer for a 51-36 lead with 16:53 to play. Five players have a 3-pointer for the Cats today.

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Arizona shot 59.3 percent in the first half (16 of 27). Only 20 more minutes until it’s time to cut down the nets.

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I have to come to learn that the back of my head is on CBS about every time they come back from commercial. Clearly my best side.

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Arizona leads 41-32 at halftime, thanks to its 7 of 15 shooting from 3-point range.

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Yahoo! Sports picks Cal’s Mike Montgomery as the Pac-10 Coach of the Year. I’d go with Arizona’s Sean Miller, but Montgomery has done a masterful job with a young and inexperienced Bears team that entered today at 9-8 in the Pac-10.

What say you?

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The game has tightened up, and Derrick Williams picked up his third foul with 4:34 to go. Arizona leads 34-27 with 3L17 to go before halftime. Kyryl Natyazhko has outscored Williams 4-2.

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Solomon Hill has been much more aggressive in the past two games after coach Sean Miller mentioned that Kevin Parrom, who basically shares the position with Hill, deserved more playing time. Coincidence? Looks like Miller might have pushed the right buttons.

Hill drove the baseline and finished with a reverse layup for two of his four points so far as Arizona leads 30-20 with 7:04 to go in the half.

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Big ovation when Kyryl Natyazhko grabs a rebound and follows up with a shot from the lane for two points. UA fans haven’t seen a lot of that this season.

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The Wildcats have regained their 3-point shooting touch, hitting 5 of 8 from beyond the arc to take a 23-15 lead with 11:15 to play. Derrick Williams picked up his second foul before the timeout on a charging call.

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Arizona leads 13-6 at the first TV timeout, mostly thanks to the hot shooting of Kyle Fogg, who has nine points. There is 14:39 to go in the half.

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Arizona was a 12-point favorite today against Oregon. Steve Rivera of TucsonCitizen.com doesn’t think it will be that close. Agreed. Circumstances are right for a blowout.

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Kyle Fogg for 3. Kyle Fogg for 3, Kyle Fogg for 3.

OK, so now, you’re pretty much caught up.

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More clever changes to the Arizona pregame video. This time, the athletic department adds Sean Miller to the speaking part and he says, “12 Pac-10 championships” to the roster of program accomplishments. He finishes the video in the spot of honor with the words, “This is Arizona.”

Here is the most recent pregame video posted by Arizona on YouTube (this was from before the Washington game):

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Jamelle Horne will be starting in his final home game.

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In other news, Arizona’s 1997 national championship team will be the first team inducted into the state’s sports Hall of Fame.

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In warmups, Derrick Williams tried a dunk move — a one-handed rebound, between legs, windmill jam. He missed. As of right now, he has no tape on his right hand at all as he continues to recover from a finger injury. (He comes out later with his pinky finger and his ring finger taped together, as expected.)

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Arizona tries to claim the outright Pac-10 title and finish with a 17-0 record at McKale Center, which would be the program’s first unbeaten record at home since the 1998-99 season.

The game will be on CBS, with Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel calling the action.

It should be a day of celebration for the Wildcats, going against an Oregon team that is 14-15 overall and is coming off a 73-53 loss to ASU. The Ducks (7-10 in the Pac-10) have been better than their last-place projections, but they have lost three in a row.

Arizona will honor its lone senior — forward Jamelle Horne — after the game. It also will be the final home game for other Wildcats … but we don’t know who that will be right now. With a four-player recruiting class, Arizona is three over its scholarship limit for next season.

Will Derrick Williams turn pro after his sophomore season? Will redshirt junior reserve big man Alex Jacobson be back? True freshman guard Daniel Bejarano has barely played this season; will he transfer? Could sophomore post Kyryl Natyazhko leave to try professional options overseas?

We will know those answers in due time. Until then, enjoy what should be a fun afternoon at McKale … and then at least a couple more weeks of Arizona basketball.

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