Rebels rally to nip lowly San Jose State, 64-61 — PHOTOS

Maybe Donald Trump had Wednesday's game in mind as a method of enhanced interrogation when he recently advocated reviving the controversial program.

As painful as the basketball was to watch for most of the night, though, an aggressive UNLV defense and some key plays down the stretch from Jerome Seagears finally gave Rebels fans something to get excited about.

Playing with a bruised right hand, Seagears scored five of the Rebels' seven final points, including two free throws with 1:21 left that put them ahead for good.

That added up to a 64-61 victory over San Jose State at the Thomas & Mack Center that did little to ease the concerns of Rebels supporters, but for UNLV it beat the alternative.

"A win's a win," UNLV interim coach Todd Simon said. "It's not exactly pretty."

The victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Rebels (14-11, 5-7). UNLV, which next hosts Colorado State on Saturday, also had lost four of five games.

This one was in doubt for most of the night. San Jose State (8-16, 3-9) took as much as a 15-point lead at 34-19 with 3:13 left in the first half. The Spartans led 37-24 at halftime.

"We were kind of lethargic coming out, so the biggest thing (in the second half) was to come out and have some energy," said UNLV's Ike Nwamu, who scored 15 points. "Play with energy and move the ball and attack, and everything else would fall in place."

Simon said the halftime talk with his players will require some redecorating to the locker room.

"It was probably 10 percent instruction and 90 percent inspirational, to put it nicely," Simon said. "I didn't like our energy. Our guys got a little riled up."

UNLV came out of halftime and scored the first six points, but the Rebels couldn't sustain the effort. They eventually fell behind 50-39 before reeling off a 14-point run to go ahead 53-50 with 5:26 remaining.

The Spartans led 58-57 when Seagears went to the free-throw line with 1:21 left. It had been another difficult night from that line for the Rebels, who would finish 20 of 32 from there.

But Seagears made both foul shots, and UNLV never trailed again.

He extended the lead to 61-58 with a driving layup, and after a free throw by Derrick Jones Jr., Seagears closed the Rebels' scoring with a free throw with six seconds left.

All with a right hand that caused some question on Tuesday as to whether Seagears would even play. He hurt the hand on Jan. 30 against San Diego State, and then aggravated it on Saturday at Fresno State.

"My hand is really hurting right now," said Seagears, who scored 13 points.

UNLV could have a new injury concern. Jones, who had 14 points and 18 rebounds, hobbled off the court in the final minute.

"I don't know if it was a cramp or he got kicked or what happened there," Simon said. "We'll check it out. Obviously, he had an unbelievable effort playing against (San Jose State's) bigs."

UNLV can hardly afford any more injuries. The depleted Rebels went with seven full-time players and added Austin Starr to the rotation. Starr, who went scoreless in 13 minutes, last played Jan. 16 against Air Force and was making just his sixth appearance all season.

Even the regulars didn't play all that well, with UNLV making just 29.4 percent of its shots, including 20 percent from the 3-point arc.

Brandon Clarke led San Jose State with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Defense is what finally won the game for the Rebels. They forced 16 turnovers, including 13 in the second half. UNLV outscored the Spartans 19-10 on points off turnovers, including 19-0 in the final 20 minutes.

"We definitely picked up our pressure in the second half," said Seagears, who had all six of his steals in the second half. "We knew sooner or later our shots would fall, so we were looking to lead by defense."

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65