Irvine, Calif. » You'd think the UC Irvine Anteaters would have remembered Lawrence Borha.

The Utah guard lit them up for a career-high 24 points last season, yet somehow seemed to evade defensive detection and do it all over again Saturday, scoring 18 to lead the Utes to a 60-52 victory at the Bren Events Center and rebound from a disheartening and controversial last-second loss at Utah State six days ago.

"I didn't think I was going to be open," Borha said. "But luckily, I was, and I stuck some shots."

None bigger, either, than the three straight three-pointers he buried to start the second half that helped the Utes build a 16-point lead. From there, they relied on their defense, holding the Anteaters without a basket for a 10-minute stretch and beating them for the ninth straight time in front of 1,191 fans -- many of whom came wearing red sweatshirts to cheer local favorite Carlon Brown.

"We have to be a defensive team," coach Jim Boylen said. "The way our shooting has been real good some nights and poor some nights, we have to win games when we don't shoot it especially well, and I thought we did that."

Boylen said he challenged the 7-5 Utes to give their best defensive effort of the season, and they might have obliged. Only once had the Utes held an opponent to fewer points, and they had not held a team to 35 percent shooting since they played at Missouri State a month ago.

And though UC Irvine's Kevin Bland scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while teammate Eric Wise added 13 points, none of the other Anteaters scored more than four points, as they fell to 2-10.

"We just came together at the end," Brown said.

Having point guard Luka Drca back certainly helped.

The junior had been out of the starting lineup for four games because of injury and suspension, and Boylen said his defensive ability - far more than his offensive talent - is crucial to the Utes. Not that his offense was bad against the Anteaters, though; he scored 12 points, handed out four assists and grabbed two rebounds in 27 minutes, with only one assist. Just as big, he made four straight free throws in the final 80 seconds, after the Anteaters had cut the lead to six points amid some Utah mistakes.

Center Luke Nevill finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Utes - his sixth double-double of the season - while Brown added 13 points and nine rebounds while playing against Wise, his former teammate at nearby King High School.

"That was real fun," Brown said. "Lot of people from my high school, my family and friends, some people I don't even know came out tonight, so it was real fun. I saw a lot of red tonight."

mcl@sltrib.com