WASHINGTON – After carrying the game for it’s first 28 minutes, UMass’ offense suddenly disappeared, and things fell apart after that.

The Minutemen scored just one basket in almost eight minutes, and the Colonials took over and pulled away for a 83-67 win at the Charles E. Smith Center.

“We played so well for 28 minutes of the game,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “Then all of a sudden, we took a couple bad shots, missed an easy one and the whole complexion of the game changed. That’s been an issue with out team this year. When it’s time to make the next charge, we do things to hurt ourselves.”

The Minutemen went 1-for-7 with three turnovers in that stretch. Six of the misses were on three pointers, as they never established a post presence throughout. Rashaan Holloway finished with seven points and four rebounds but was hampered by foul trouble and a defense that sagged down on him throughout.

Led by a torrid stretch by Zach Lewis, UMass carried the play for the first half, but when he cooled off, nobody picked up the slack. The Minutemen led 54-50 after a C.J. Anderson 3-pointer with 12 minutes, 13 seconds remaining. At the time, the play seemed critical because it stemmed some GW momentum, but in actuality it only delayed the storm.

UMass scored just once in the next 7:42, and the Colonials took advantage, pulling ahead 69-56 with 5:06 left.

After that, GW was able to slow the game down and burn clock. The Minutemen had turned 16 Colonials turnovers into 24 points. But their inability to make a shot made them unable to use the press that had been effective until that point.

UMass shot 10-for-31 from the floor and 2-for-14 from 3-point range in the second half.

“We played well for 27 minutes and then fell off,” Lewis said. “Once they got the lead, they didn’t look back. The fact that we weren’t making shots, we couldn’t set up the press.”

The Colonials’ offense didn’t run nearly as smoothly with Tyler Cavanaugh on the bench in foul trouble, but he was solid in the second half and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Patrick Steeves became the latest Atlantic 10 role player to break out against UMass. The transfer from Harvard had 26 points, which was not only a career high but more than he’d ever had combined in his best two games.

“He averaged five points and scored 26,” Lewis said. “You can’t call that.”

Kellogg used a big lineup and a pres, and both produced in the first half. Chris Baldwin’s energy off the bench at the power forward spot after starter Seth Berger picked up his second foul was contagious. He had two points and six rebounds and helped neutralize the Colonials on the boards early. He finished with a career-high 10 rebounds.

Lewis had all 16 of his points before intermission. He had 10 of those in a 15-7 run that turned a 22-22 tie with 8:10 remaining into a 37-29 Minuteman lead with 2:46 left.

GW answered with a 9-0 surge that gave the home team a 38-37 lead. But Donte Clark buried a 3-pointer from the left wing with 18.8 seconds left to give UMass a 40-38 intermission edge.

The Minutemen delivered on their goal of limiting turnovers with 11 in the game, but the Colonials turned nine offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points.

Jarreau finished with 12 points.

UMass (13-15, 3-12 A-10) returns home to face La Salle, Sunday at 1 p.m.