WORCESTER — Early on, it looked like UMass might coast. Midway through, the Minutemen appeared to be in danger of an optimism-dousing bad loss. When the final buzzer sounded, UMass escaped Holy Cross with a 68-60 win at the DCU Center on Sunday.

The Minutemen won despite some ugly stats. They turned the ball over 23 times and forced just 13. Teams that play zone, which Holy Cross did throughout, often allow a lot of offensive rebounds, but UMass managed just two and didn’t have a single second chance point.

“At times, our guys played hard and competed,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “At times, we looked like we had a lot of work to do. … We were fortunate to come away with a win at the end.”

After two exciting close games against higher level opponents, UMass appeared to think Sunday’s game would be a cakewalk against a Crusader team that lost its first two games by an average of 38 points.

The first six minutes seemed to reinforce that belief, as the Minutemen took a 12-2 lead. But the intensity dropped off, and Holy Cross spent the rest of the half chipping away and drew even at halftime 27-27. The Crusaders carried that momentum out of intermission. Two Karl Charles free throws put the Crusaders up 35-34 with 15:40 remaining, as the UMass portion of a evenly-split crowd of 3,591 got nervous.

After a missed jump shot by Donte Clark, the Crusaders had a chance to stretch their edge, but Anthony Thompson’s 3-point try was off the mark, and Clark grabbed the rebound.

The Minutemen sped the ball up the court to prevent HC from setting up the zone that had rattled UMass all game. Zach Lewis missed a 3 from the left corner but was fouled on the play and made all three free throws to make it 37-35 with 14:57 left.

The Crusaders had chances to answer but missed a layup, the front end of a one-and-one and jump shot before an offensive foul gave UMass the ball.

Luwane Pipkins knocked down a 3-pointer, sparking the Minutemen toward a 10-0 run that gave the visitors a 47-38 lead.

But that cushion proved to be fool’s gold. Holy Cross took advantage of the Minutemen’s 23 turnovers and clawed back to even at 50-50 with 7:00 left, as UMass called timeout.

At that point, UMass’ veterans took over. Clark hit a baseline jumper, and Seth Berger followed with a layup to make it 54-50 with 6:00 left.

Berger grabbed the rebound of Malachi Alexander’s missed 3 and Clark was fouled at the other end.

After the junior made two free throws, Pipkins found Berger wide open on the break for an easy dunk to make it 58-50 with 5:04 left.

Zach Lewis capped the 11-0 stretch with a 3-pointer clinched the win with 3:56 left.

Kellogg was glad his team could learn without losing.

“The lesson is, no matter where you are in the country, teams are going to be good,” Kellogg said. “There’s a lot of good basketball teams out there. When you go on the road, its going to be a battle, no matter who you’re playing.”

Five UMass players scored in double figures, and the other five combined for three points total. Clark scored 18 to go with seven rebounds. Berger and Zach Lewis each had 13. Pipkins had 11 points, six assists and four rebounds.

DeJon Jarreau, who had been terrific in UMass’ games Monday and Thursday, struggled. He had just three points, four assists and turned the ball over six times.

“It’s a good learning (experience) and wakeup call for him and the other freshman,” Kellogg said. “This is not easy. You have to come every day ready to go. He’ll get better. He comes to practice and works every day. He has a great attitude.”

Alexander and Anthony Thompson each had 14 for Holy Cross.

Both teams return to action against Harvard. Holy Cross (0-3) plays in Cambridge on Tuesday, while the Crimson are at UMass on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage