Boy, for a minute there, it looked like I was going to have to apologize for writing that article in the newspaper describing how the Utes are steadily improving from last season.

But then the Utes found their defense.

By shaking off a poor start and smothering the Weber State Wildcats the rest of the way in a 72-52 victory at the Dee Events Center tonight, the Utes showed another sign that they're starting to absorb coach Jim Boylen's message.

"We have to defend, we have to defend, we have to defend," Boylen said. "I've said all along, if we can keep defending, our offense will come around."

That hadn't really worked out terribly well through the first four games, when the Utes held opponents to 41.7 percent shooting but still had only an unsatisfying split to their credit.

But now they have honest-to-goodness proof that clamping down on defense can pay dividends that extend all the way to the final score, even if Boylen regarded the victory as only another baby step on the road to success.

"What this team has to do -- and I've said it a million times -- is we have to defend even though we're not scoring," Boylen said. "We have to play through adversity even when we're not playing well. That's where we have to grow. We're not out of the woods yet."

But they are getting closer.

The Utes held the Wildcats to 36.4 percent shooting, lowering their opponents' shooting percentage to 40.7 percent through five games. They also forced a season-high 18 turnovers, blocked a season-high six shots and made seven steals while holding the Wildcats scoreless for more than seven minutes while taking control in the first half.

Granted, part of that was because the Wildcats were outsized and overmatched. But you'd still rather do that to somebody than have somebody do it to you.

Among other tidbits worth mentioning:

-- Center Luke Nevill played probably his best half of the season after halftime, scoring 14 of his 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting. He aggressively scored three straight baskets (two lay-ups and a dunk) to start the second half to fuel the Utes' runaway. "Coach told me that I wasn't playing strong and physical in the first half," he said. "He said I was taking fadeaway shots and wasn't going right to the hoop. ... I came out and I wasn't going to settle for any weak shots."

-- Guard Carlon Brown did not exactly light it up in his first start, in place of the injured Stephen Weigh. The freshman scored just two points with three rebounds, a steal, an assist and a vicious blocked shot in 22 minutes. Still, that wasn't bad, and not committing a turnover was a victory, in a game in which the Utes committed a season-low 11 of them.

-- Guard Lawrence Borha still has not enjoyed an offensive outburst nearly as monumental as the one he hung on South Carolina Upstate in the season opener. But once again, he smothered one of the other team's top players. While Borha scored just three points, he held WSU's Juan Pablo Silveira scoreless with three turnovers on 0-for-5 shooting. Silveira had been averaging 9.0 points per game. And Borha's stat line was hardly unimpressive; he grabbed five rebounds, handed out three assists, made two steals and blocked a shot -- all with only one turnover in a game-high 34 minutes.