Hearts can be broken on Valentine's Day, too.

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team found that out last night in a 47-46 loss to Nevada.

Armon Johnson scored on a spinning drive in the lane with 7.6 seconds remaining to cap a stunning late-game rally by the Wolf Pack.

The Rainbow Warriors had a 46-39 lead with 2:46 remaining, but were outscored 8-0 to close the game.

"It hurts because these guys really stayed together and really fought hard and they were right there," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "But you have to bring it home. You still have to go out and earn it, and tonight, Nevada was a little more determined at the end than we were."

A crowd of 4,475 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i fall to 12-12 overall and 4-8 in the Western Athletic Conference. The 'Bows are in a three-way tie for sixth place, which means they are also in a tie for eighth place.

The eighth- and ninth-place teams at the end of the regular season have to meet in the dreaded play-in game of the WAC Tournament.

The Wolf Pack improved to 15-10 overall and remained in second place in the WAC at 8-4. With first-place Utah State losing its first WAC game of the season yesterday, the Wolf Pack still has a mathematical shot at the regular-season championship.

"What a slugfest," Nevada head coach Mark Fox said. "Hard-fought game. Both teams defended really well. We were just fortunate to have the ball last."

Actually, Hawai'i had the final possession, but Hiram Thompson's off-balance drive did not even reach the rim. The 'Bows were out of timeouts, so Thompson drove the length of the court after Johnson's shot put Nevada ahead.

"I had the ball and I was looking for Rod (Flemings) down the court," Thompson said. "But they had a couple guys on him, so I just went and drove. Two guys ran at me, so I had to throw it pretty high and just didn't put enough on it."

Depending on your perspective, the game was either defensively stellar or offensively challenged.

Hawai'i shot 34 percent from the field and went 0 for 4 from 3-point range. It snapped a string of 135 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer for the 'Bows, a streak dating to 2004.

Bill Amis led the 'Bows with 10 points and eight rebounds. Flemings added 10 points and five rebounds, although he shot 3 of 10 from the field.

And as Nash pointed out: "The big thing for us was to go 14 for 24 on the free-throw line. That's where it really hurt."

The 'Bows went 7 for 14 on free throws in the second half, including 2 of 6 in the game's final 6:34.

Nevada won the game despite scoring a season-low 47 points, and shooting 35.6 percent from the field. The Wolf Pack went just 1 of 7 from 3-point range, and Hawai'i won the rebounding battle, 35-30.

It was the third consecutive game that the 'Bows held their opponent under 50 points, a feat that has never been accomplished by a Hawai'i team against NCAA Division I competition.

"Hawai'i, I have to give them credit," Fox said. "They defended us better than we've been defended all year."

Nevada also went scoreless for nearly eight minutes late in the second half. During that stretch, Hawai'i turned a 39-35 deficit into a 46-39 lead.

"I felt like eventually we'd get one to go in, or we would get to the free-throw line," Fox said. "We couldn't do either one. We just kept trying to hang in there and hang in there."

But Nevada did have Johnson, a 6-foot-3 sophomore point guard. He finished with a game-high 25 points. He went 8 of 15 from the field, and 8 of 9 on free throws.

"We had some lapses and some times we couldn't score, and they were playing real tough defense," Johnson said. "I'm glad we weathered the storm and came out with the win."

It was Nevada's seventh consecutive win over Hawai'i, a streak dating to the 2005-06 season.

Johnson scored six of Nevada's points during the 8-0 surge to close the game.

The 'Bows did not help their cause by committing two turnovers in the final 1:14 of the game.

"We played hard, we didn't lose the game because we didn't play hard," Thompson said. "We gave everything we had, but just at the end of the game, we made some stupid mistakes. We had control, but we weren't poised."

Hawai'i also got called for three fouls in the final 2:15, while Nevada was not assessed any fouls.

"It was an evenly matched game," Nash said. "But some of the calls down the stretch, we didn't get them at our end, but somehow they were able to get to the free-throw line at their end."

The 'Bows led by as many as nine points in the first half, and had a 27-24 lead at intermission.

Hawai'i went on a 10-1 run midway through the first half to take a 24-15 lead. Flemings highlighted the surge with one of the top highlights of the year — a one-handed dunk off a miss by teammate Lasha Parghalava.

Flemings' head appeared to be at the level of the rim as he soared in for the dunk.

The Wolf Pack got back in it with a 9-3 surge to close the first half, then an 11-0 run to open the second half.

Hawai'i played the entire second half without key reserve center Petras Balocka. He appeared to aggravate a groin injury late in the first half and finished with six points and three rebounds in nine minutes.

Hawai'i's next game will be on the road at Fresno State on Thursday. The 'Bows will then return to host UC Irvine in a non-conference game Saturday.