the departures of carlon brown and nate tomlinson were instrumental in dinwiddie's breakout sophomore season. leading the team in assists, they reached the ncaa men's basketball tournament for the second consecutive season, in which they reached the second round. it was the first time the team had reached back-to-back tournaments since the 1963 season. the buffaloes won the 2012 charleston classic, in which dinwiddie took the role as starting small forward in the final three rounds. he was just one of two players – the other being askia booker – to start all 33 games. by the end of the season, booker and dinwiddie became the highest sophomore scoring tandem in school history. dinwiddie led the team in assists 20 times and was the top scorer on 15 different occasions. he recorded 29 points in a home win over colorado state, which marked his own career-high scoring record. on february 10, 2012, dinwiddie recorded a perfect game against oregon state. he shot 6-for-6 from the field, 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, and 8-for-8 on free throws. this set the school record for most points scored without missing a single shot. he made the remark, "i see over people and i shoot over people... for the smaller point guards, they don't really get to contest me." the taft graduate stood by the end of the season.