Boston College-UMass Final Score: Minutemen Drop Eagles, 71-62

Boston College-UMass Final Score: On Sunday afternoon at the TD Garden in Boston, the UMass Minutemen defeated the Boston College Eagles, 71-62.

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The loss was the Eagles’ first of the season as they fall to 1-1. Boston College has now lost three games in a row to the Minutemen; their last victory in the series was in December 2010 at Conte Forum.

Boston College-UMass Final: Strong Open

The Eagles played well in the first half of the game in downtown Boston, jumping out to a lead after the first media timeout and going on a 12-0 run to take a 21-8 lead, which held up until about nine minutes to go in the half.

Though UMass tightened the score a bit, the Eagles extended the lead back out to 12 points before ultimately taking an eight-point advantage into the locker room. This was despite what some accounts attribute to poor officiating that gave UMass a number of extra opportunities; more there in a moment.

Boston College-UMass Final: Poor Close

The second half was the opposite for Boston College, as the Eagles melted down almost immediately upon the start. Trailing by eight at halftime, UMass had a three-point lead at the first media timeout, opening on a 15-4 to that point. It would get as bad as a 23-6 run for the Minutemen over the first six and a half minutes of the second, who led by nine after trailing by eight earlier.

Boston College tried making it a respectable game, but UMass went ahead by double-digits with about six and a half to go, and their late fouling strategy did not work.

For the half, the Eagles were outscored 47 to 30.

Boston College-UMass Final: Bottom Line

One thing that stands out is that UMass had 46 free throw attempts with 31 fouls called on the Eagles. That on its face seems questionable, even with Boston College fouling a few times late to try to extend the game at the line. Also considering the widespread complaints about the officiating by Eagles fans yesterday, there may have been something to it.

Another was the turnovers: Boston College committed 18, which is a lot no matter who you play.

Boston College also remained poor at three-point shooting, though better than on Friday: the Eagles made five of 21 (23.8%).

Yet, in good news, Boston College had 16 offensive rebounds in the game.

The Eagles losing is not a surprise, and neither are some of the underlying numbers. UMass is no great team, but it would have been foolish to proclaim Boston College a team on the road to recovery based off of the UNH game. Boston College lacks a lot of athleticism and have spent the last several years struggling to close games. The Eagles took UMass’s best punch to start the second half, but, to continue a disturbing trend, they fell apart shortly thereafter.

We are only two games in, but it is going to be another year full of challenges that the team can hopefully overcome — but don’t be surprised if they do not.

Boston College-UMass Final: Next Up

Boston College basketball returns to action on Thursday afternoon as they begin their Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament against the New Mexico Lobos.