It’s safe to say that playing against a zone defense was not part of Arizona’s scout of Colorado, yet when the Wildcats got the ball for the first time Saturday afternoon there were the Buffaloes playing one. Adjustments needed to be made and they were, though it took a little while.

The UA shook off an uneven first half by hitting another gear after halftime, beating Colorado 78-63 at McKale Center. The victory was the eighth in nine games for the Wildcats (13-6, 7-1 Big 12) and sets the stage for a huge showdown Monday night at home against No. 3 Iowa State.

Anthony Dell’Orso led the way with 20 points, going 7 of 11 with a career-high six 3-pointers. KJ Lewis had 12 points and six assists and Tobe Awaka pulled down 15 rebounds while scoring eight for Arizona, which shot 56.7 percent in the second half and 46.9 percent overall.

Colorado (9-10, 0-8) shot 42.9 percent and was 9 of 19 from 3 but turned it over 15 times, leading to 19 points for Arizona. The Wildcats added 16 second-chance points off 13 offensive rebounds.

Arizona led 33-31 at halftime, shooting 38 percent. It quickly grew the lead out to 40-33 before finding its frontcourt in sudden foul trouble. Awaka got his second and third fouls in the span of seven seconds, then Henri Veesaar got his second 16 seconds left.

Colorado responded by scoring seven straight to tie it at 40 with 14:43 left. The Buffs had a chance to go ahead but turned it over and Dell’Orso hit his fourth 3 on the other end and Arizona was able to briefly build a 2-score cushion again.

The UA started to attack the zone and it led to three straight drives to the rim, two in transition before it could get set up, resulting in an 8-point lead with 10:15 to go. It started to finally put Colorado away thanks to a run of six straight field goals, including two 3s by Dell’Orso and one by Veesaar, to lead 65-50 with 6:07 remaining.

Arizona had no trouble with Colorado’s zone early on, making five of its first nine shots including a pair of 3s to lead 12-5 at the first media timeout. But then it only made five of the next 18 shots, going 0 for 6 from outside, which allowed the Buffaloes to stick around.

Colorado took a 26-25 lead on a Julian Hammond jumper with 3:54 left in the first half before Arizona retook the lead on a Caleb Love 3. Love had eight points in the final 5:37 before halftime after going scoreless before that and finished with 10 on 3-of-14 shooting, unable to follow up his 27-point effort Tuesday at Oklahoma State.

Arizona has a quick turnaround, hosting Iowa State on Monday night. The Cyclones (17-2, 7-1) won 76-61 at ASU on Saturday afternoon, pulling away with a 19-3 run over the final 5-plus minutes.