There are clichés about not being able to hit water from a boat and missing the broadside of barns. On Saturday night, the Nevada men's basketball team proved there is a reason for those clichés.

UNLV took advantage of a Nevada team that couldn't sink a shot and captured a 64-57 win at Lawlor Events Center.

UNLV has now won three straight games over the Wolf Pack in the annual in-state rivalry tilts. Nevada's woeful shooting was a big reason for Saturday's defeat. Nevada managed to convert on just 17 of 50 shots (34 percent) from the floor.

"I'm very disappointed for our fans, students, faculty." Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "We finished second. You don't get a silver medal in this game."

After both teams struggled offensively in the first 20 minutes, the rival Rebels turned up the heat in the second half. They shot almost 45 percent as opposed to just 32 percent in the first half. Nevada only shot 38 percent in the second half.

"I'm pretty disappointed with our start of the second-half defense," Fox said. "It's been an issue with this team. Tonight was a reoccurrence. It's something we have to address."

UNLV (7-2) got going quickly in the second half, scoring just 12 seconds in on a René Rougeau layup. Shortly thereafter, the Rebels took the lead with two free throws by Wink Adams. Nevada tied things up at 24 apiece but lost control of the game after that as the Rebels scoring the next five points and never trailed again.

"We were playing a good team and in a tough environment," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "It's definitely a good win. Then you add the in-state stuff and that adds something to it."

Las Vegas stretched the lead to 37-29, making good on 7 of 12 shots in the first seven minutes of the second half. Nevada cut the lead to four, 42-38, on a jumper by Johnson but that was as close as the Wolf Pack would get with eight minutes left in the game. UNLV pushed its leads to as many as 12 late in the game.

A last-ditch effort to close in on the Rebels came on a steal from Malik Cooke. He missed a layup but Armon Johnson rushed in with a putback dunk and Nevada trailed by five, 60-55. The Rebels then scored four straight points before Nevada's Ray Kraemer shoved in a layup with 2.8 seconds left, accounting for the 64-57 final.

"In the second half, we played with a little better awareness," Kruger said. I thought we identified things offensively and we didn't in the first half, but give UNR credit. They did a good job and out-muscled us. We didn't respond like I'd hoped.

"In the second half, we just had more attack. We were more aggressive offensively. We set better screens. We just played harder and better."

The first half was far from picture perfect as both teams struggled offensively in the initial 20 minutes.

Nevada (3-4) scored the first point of the game on a Dario Hunt free throw less than a minute into the game. Neither team scored again for nearly three minutes until the Rebels' Darris Santee put in a short jumper.

Trailing 6-5, Nevada's Lyndale Burleson forced a steal and sank a 3-point shot on the other end of the court for an 8-6 Wolf Pack lead with 13 minutes left in the half. Both teams struggled offensively and neither scored again until Johnson made a shot to extend the lead, nearly four minutes later. At the 7:50 mark the squads had combined for just 7-of-30 shooting with Nevada leading 12-9. Nevada shot just 29 percent in the first half.

"They played real tough defense," Nevada's Luke Babbitt said. "It seemed like a lot of shots went in and out for us. It wasn't our night offensively."

UNLV's Rougeau posted back-to-back buckets to tie the game and give the Rebels an 18-16 lead. Another Rebels basket saw the Mountain West club grab a 20-16 edge.

Nevada then reeled off the last six points of the first to take a 22-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Johnson came up with a layup with 2:12 left on the clock to end the Wolf Pack's scoring drought. Nevada hadn't scored in over four minutes, and Johnson pulled his squad within two, 20-18. Luke Babbitt came up with a field goal to tie the game, only his second of the half. He shot 2-for-7 from the floor in the first half for Nevada. Two free throws from Brandon Fields gave Nevada the 22-20 halftime edge.

Johnson led all scorers with 21 points while Babbitt had 15 to go along with eight rebounds.

Nevada only made three out of its 21 shot attempts from beyond the arc. UNLV out-rebounded the Wolf Pack 42-33. Nevada came up with 10 steals but turned the ball over 11 times.

"It was a tough game," Burleson said. "We came out and played real hard. They just out-played us. It's a tough loss. We just have to learn from it."

Four Rebels reached double digits in the scoring column, led by Rougeau with 19 points. He also pulled down 13 boards. Oscar Bellfield finished with 17 points while Tre'Von Willis and Adams each tallied 11 points

Nevada hosts Sonoma State on Tuesday for the second game in its four-game homestand. Tip-off is at 7:05 p.m.