Reggie Jackson scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half and Boston College held off several rallies down the stretch to beat Massachusetts 76-71 in the Boston Tip-Off Classic on Saturday, ending the Minutemen's unbeaten start.
Joe Trapani also scored 17 and Josh Southern finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles (6-2), who won the intrastate rivalry for the 11th time in the last 12 meetings.
Boston College opened the game on an 8-0 run and never trailed the Minutemen (7-1).
Anthony Gurley led UMass with 22 points.
The Minutemen, whose seven-game winning streak was their longest in 12 years, could never quite catch the Eagles after getting within two points several times down the stretch at Boston's TD Garden.
Freddie Riley and Daryl Taynham added nine points each for UMass, which couldn't capitalize on BC's 22 turnovers.
UMass was off to its best start since it opened 26-0 in 1995-96.
The Minutemen had plenty of chances, but rushed a couple of 3-pointers in the second half when a layup could have tied it. UMass was 3 for 16 from beyond the arc in the game and just 1 for 6 in the second half.
Jackson had only three points at halftime, but took over when the Eagles needed him to in the second half. He led BC with six assists and came up with a huge rebound near the end.
After Terrell Vinson sprung free for a dunk that cut it to 63-61, Jackson hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring. He then set up Trapani for a layup that was nearly a three-point play. Trapani missed the free throw, but the Eagles' lead was back up to 68-61 with 3:13 left to play.
After Riley's layup with 1:10 left got the Minutemen within 70-67, the Eagles broke through UMass' frontcourt pressure and Jackson found Josh Southern alone under the basket for an easy layup.
Jackson sprinted back on defense and was there to grab the rebound when the Minutemen missed, then Jackson set up Trapani for a layup that all but sealed it, putting the Eagles up 74-67 with about 35 seconds left to play.
