Reserve Nik Popovic scored all 18 of his points after halftime and Boston College pulled away in the second half for a 68-56 victory over visiting Minnesota on Monday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Popovic helped turn a close game into a double-digit victory as the Eagles (5-1) outscored Minnesota (5-1) 35-24 in the second half. The 6-foot-11 forward made all nine of his shots and helped anchor Boston College's zone when the Eagles changed their defensive strategy late in the first half.

Popovic came within two of his career high set during last spring's ACC tournament against Georgia Tech, and he set a career high for field goals as the Eagles shot 53.8 percent in the second half and 47.2 percent overall

Freshman Wynston Tabbs scored a season-high 17 points while Ky Bowman contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds despite missing 10 of 13 shots as Boston College improved to 7-4 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten challenge.

Minnesota forward Jordan Murphy collected 16 points and 11 rebounds but fouled out on an offensive foul call with 5:33 remaining in the second half.

Gabe Kalscheur and Amir Coffey added 12 points apiece, but Dupree McBrayer, Minnesota's second-best 3-pointer shooter, went scoreless.

McBrayer his eight shots, all from behind the arc, as the Golden Gophers finished only 5-of-30 from 3-point range and misfired on 13 straight at one point.

The Golden Gophers, who were coming off three wins in Vancouver, British Columbia, shot 29.2 percent (19-of-65) and lost the first ever meeting with Boston College.

Boston College held a 33-32 lead at halftime on a jumper by Jordan Chatman with 59 seconds left after leading by seven on Chatman's layup with 9:44 left.

The Gophers used a 9-0 run to erase a 23-16 deficit and later took a 32-31 lead on a layup by Michael Hurt with 81 seconds left.

The Eagles took the lead for good after Popovic snapped a 35-35 tie with a layup with 17:50 remaining in the second half. Boston College gradually pulled away and took its first double-digit lead at 49-39 on a layup by Chatman over six minutes later.

The Gophers missed 11 straight shots before Daniel Oturu's layup made it 51-42 with 9:12 remaining, but Popovic scored six more points to push the lead to 60-44 with about five minutes left.

Minnesota missed 13 straight 3-pointers until Coffey hit consecutive shots from behind the arc, but by then Boston College maintained a double-digit lead.

--Field Level Media