It was the kind of loss that defied belief.

The UNLV basketball team suffered a devastating 98-96 defeat at Fresno State on Tuesday night, surrendering seven unanswered points in the game’s final six seconds in an improbable collapse.

The Rebels appeared to have the game firmly in control, leading 92-86 with just 28 seconds remaining and 89-80 with 1:32 on the clock. But a chaotic finish marred by fouls and turnovers unraveled everything.

The breakdown began when UNLV watched a 76-68 lead with 6:44 remaining gradually slip away as Fresno State mounted its comeback. The Bulldogs capitalized on foul trouble that plagued the Rebels all night — 62 total fouls were whistled, including 34 against UNLV, leading to a staggering 80 free throw attempts.

By the final minute, UNLV had been reduced to just five available players after five fouled out, including star Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn with 2:06 remaining. Fresno State cut the deficit to 96-93 with six seconds left.

Then came the sequence that will haunt the Rebels: Al Green was fouled but simultaneously called for a flagrant foul with six seconds remaining.

The two free throws cut UNLV’s lead to three and gave Fresno State possession. David Douglas Jr. buried a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to tie the game at 96.

On the ensuing inbound play, UNLV’s Howie Fleming Jr. overthrew Naas Cunningham, and the ball sailed out of bounds, giving possession back to the Bulldogs at their own basket. Jake Heidbreder, who scored a game-best 29 points, calmly drained the game-winner.

“Tough pill to swallow and a tough loss,” UNLV coach Josh Pastner said. “It’s really disappointing and we had a chance to win and didn’t get it done. We just kept fouling and they kept on getting to the free throw line. I knew going into that last six seconds, we had Naas with four fouls and we didn’t have anyone else to put in case he fouled out and we wanted to foul. That’s not on the players, that’s on me.”

Gibbs-Lawhorn led UNLV with 28 points and Fleming Jr. added 12. Issac Williamson and Kimani Hamilton each added 14 points.

UNLV (10-12, 5-6) has dropped four straight games. They host Grand Canyon at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.