For a half at TD Garden, Frank Martin’s UMass squad had the better of their in-state rivals; shooting it better, rebounding it better and carrying themselves like the team that had won four straight in the series.
Then, the offense disappeared.
Boston College senior guard Money Williams scored 35 points and UMass managed just 20 points in the second half of a 71-55 loss to the Eagles on Friday in the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series Boston.
Williams scored 21 of his 35 in the first half and finished 13-for-13 at the free throw line with nine rebounds and five assists.
Sophomore forward Dwayne Wimbley Jr. led UMass (1-1) with 15 points, junior center Abdullah Ahmed added 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks and sophomore guard Danny Carbuccia finished with six assists.
Williams scored the game’s first points at the line, but UMass answered with the first run of the afternoon. Wimbley made a tip-in and two threes in the opening minutes, Ahmed added a floater and the Minutemen led 11-4 on their way to a 14-6 advantage at the first media timeout, with Boston College 0-for-6 from three.
Boston College (2-0) climbed back inside.
The Eagles lived in the paint, cut the deficit to three and tied the game at 26 on a three from freshman Žak Smrekar, their first made three after 11 straight misses. Williams put the Eagles in front 28-26, their first lead since the opening minute, before Ahmed answered with a three of his own.
The teams traded the lead the rest of the half and Boston College took a 37-35 advantage into the locker room. UMass shot 54 percent in the half, but the Minutemen committed eight turnovers and went 3-for-7 at the free throw line while the Eagles went 10-for-11.
Ahmed tied the game at 37 with a tip-in on the first possession of the second half and blocked Williams at the other end. But that would be the last time UMass had a share of the lead.
Boston College ran off the next 10 points to lead 47-37. UMass went nearly five minutes with only the Ahmed tip-in, and the Minutemen finished with 14 turnovers against just four for the Eagles, who got five steals from senior guard Armoni Zeigler.
The lead stretched to 12 at 55-43 on two Williams free throws with 8:54 left before UMass made one last push. Wimbley hit two free throws, freshman guard Noa Zemljic dropped in a floater and Wimbley scored again inside to cut the deficit to 55-51 with 5:32 to play.
But Williams would end it.
He hit a three with 4:37 left, Smrekar added two free throws and Williams connected from deep again at the 3:00 mark to push the margin to 67-55. Boston College closed the game out at the line, finishing 24-for-26 on free throws against 8-for-14 for UMass, and outscored the Minutemen 38-28 in the paint.
UMass played without senior Jayden Ndjigue, who is sidelined with a hand injury. Boston College played without sophomore guard Jacob Furphy, who is out with a sprained MCL.
The loss snapped UMass’s four-game winning streak in the series, which included a 76-74 win over the Eagles in Springfield last December. The Minutemen return home Wednesday to host UMass Lowell, while Boston College improved to 2-0 in its first season under head coach Luke Murray.
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