FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -Darris Santee scored 21 points and Tre'Von Willis added 18 in his return to his hometown of Fresno to lead UNLV past Fresno State 82-76 on Wednesday night.
Paul George scored a game-high 24 points for Fresno State. Dwight O'Neil, Willis' half-brother from the Fresno suburb of Easton, added 21 points and six assists.
Wink Adams had 17 points and seven rebounds for UNLV (6-2), whose guards had little trouble penetrating the Bulldogs' perimeter defense.
Fresno State (2-4) suffered its second straight home loss after Oregon State beat the Bulldogs to snap its 25-game losing streak Sunday.
The Rebels pulled away late in the game behind four straight points from Rene Rougeau, who finished with 12 points.
Rougeau scored in the post to put UNLV ahead 78-74 with 1:39 left, then banked in a layup off an assist from Santee on the Rebels' next possession to give his team a six-point lead.
George's three-pointer, his third of the game, helped Fresno State pull within 76-74 with 2:13 left.
The Bulldogs hurt their cause with 18 turnovers compared to eight for UNLV.
Willis, who transferred to UNLV after spending his freshman season at Memphis, added four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Brice Massamba's reverse layup with 52 seconds left gave UNLV a 32-31 halftime lead in the back-and-forth first half.
Santee scored 14 first-half points for the Rebels on 7 of 9 shooting. Mychal Ladd had 10 for the Bulldogs.
Neither team led by more than five points in the first half.
After Adams' finger-roll layup put UNLV ahead 28-24 with 3:58 remaining, Ladd answered with his second three-pointer to pull Fresno State within a point.
Four of George's eight first-half points came on dunks, including a thunderous alley oop off an assist from Bryce Cartwright.
