In its last game, the UCLA men’s basketball team mounted a 13-point halftime lead against Oregon only to see it quickly erased when the second half began.

Thursday at the Sports Arena, the Bruins built a 15-point halftime advantage and made sure that this one didn’t get away in a 76-49 win.

After last weekend’s debacle at Oregon, UCLA coach Ben Howland attributed the Bruins’ poor play to defensive issues.

Those issues were corrected, if only for a night. UCLA held Utah to 37 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range.

“Guys played hard defensively for 40 minutes which is what we talked about going in,” Howland said after the game.

Redshirt sophomore forward David Wear had an explanation for the upshot in defensive effort.

“I think we focused for a full 40 minutes,” he said. “Our rotations were fast. We were talking and we were moving.”

Although the defense was improved, the Utes are one of the worst offensive teams in the conference. Utah (5-15, 2-6 Pac-12) ranks in the Pac-12’s bottom three teams in nearly every offensive statistical category.

UCLA scored 14 points off turnovers, five of them coming from steals and baskets at the other end by sophomore guard Tyler Lamb.

The Bruins opened the second half strong and their halftime lead of 15 quickly ballooned to 20 and beyond, making sure to not let the Utes back into the game as they did the Ducks.

“I told my team that we cannot let this happen again,” senior guard Jerime Anderson said. “I refuse to let it happen again for the rest of the year. If we have a lead like that, we have to control it.”

“That was one of the main things we talked about at halftime,” Wear added. “We can’t have another letdown like we did at Oregon. We knew we had to focus and come out with great intensity to not have another letdown.”

Sophomore center Joshua Smith bounced back from disappointing games in Oregon last weekend to finish with a team-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and five rebounds. Smith showed marked progress from the Bruins’ last two games. He looked to be giving more effort on both ends of the floor, chasing a ball far out of bounds at one point in the second half.

“It’s just giving more effort,” Smith said. “I acknowledge I didn’t play my best against Oregon but coach just told us we have to play as hard as we can. That’s what I was trying to focus on, trying to play as hard as I could until a sub came.”

The game got so out of hand that UCLA’s walk-on unit checked in with more than four minutes to play.

Wear (13), Anderson (13) and Lamb (10) also scored in double figures for the Bruins.

UCLA (11-9, 4-4) now turns its attention to Colorado on Saturday. The Buffs started the conference season strong but have since cooled off.

Still, they’re one of six teams with a winning record in the conference and are coming off a 74-50 defeat of USC on Thursday. With a sweep of the Pac-12 newcomers, UCLA would remain perfect at home within the conference.