Anthony Dell’Orso netted a career-high six three-pointers and finished with 20 points as the Arizona Wildcats beat the Colorado Buffaloes 78-63 on Saturday afternoon in Tucson, Ariz.
Dell’Orso hit 6 of 9 from deep and scored 14 in the second half to help the Wildcats (13-6, 7-1 Big 12) notch their ninth win in their last 10 games.
KJ Lewis recorded 12 points, six assists and four steals for Arizona, while Caleb Love had 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Tobe Awaka added eight points and 15 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Julian Hammond III tallied 19 points and four assists for the Buffaloes (9-10, 0-8) in their eighth straight loss. Javon Ruffin and Andrej Jakimovski scored 12 and 10, respectively.
Despite entering Saturday as a 14 1/2-point underdog and the Big 12’s only winless team in conference play, Colorado trailed by two points at halftime and pulled even at 40-40 with 14:43 left.
Dell’Orso buried a go-ahead 3-pointer with 13:58 remaining, which sparked an Arizona surge that propelled the Wildcats ahead 50-42.
The Buffaloes were within 58-51 after Ruffin’s jumper with 7:10 to go before Arizona rattled off seven straight points. Dell’Orso capped the run with his final triple to push the Wildcats ahead 65-51.
Colorado never drew closer than 12 over the final 5:46 and suffered its fifth straight loss against Arizona.
The Wildcats had little problem building a 9-3 lead, doing so without Love, the team’s leading scorer (15.6 points per game) attempting a field goal.
The Buffaloes’ 2-3 zone defense continued to struggle, but Colorado battled back to within 23-21 on Jakimovski’s jumper with 7:22 left before halftime.
The squads traded leads late in the first half, but Ruffin’s jumper in the closing minute snipped Colorado’s halftime deficit to 33-31.
A 7-2 run by Arizona, including five points from Dell’Orso, brought the home crowd to its feet three minutes into the second half.
After Elijah Malone capped a 7-0 Colorado run with a bucket to tie it 40-all, Jayden Bradley ended the Wildcats’ ensuing 10-2 stretch with a layup at 10:20.
–Field Level Media
