It is a play that maybe no one remembers. But it is one that separates last year’s version of the Massachusetts men’s basketball team from the present Minutemen.

Early in the second half of last year’s game versus Holy Cross, former UMass shooting guard Monty Mack had the ball stolen from him at half court. But instead of hustling back to try and make a play on the ball, Mack just stood there, shaking his head as the Crusaders converted on the other end.

It was that laziness that led to Holy Cross’ fatal 15-5 second stanza run and its 78-65 upset of the Minutemen – which handed UMass its first-ever loss at Worcester’s Centrum Centre – and more importantly, proved the irregularity of last year’s 15-15 squad.

Things are different this year. Well, so far.

Last year’s team most likely wouldn’t have won this year’s Nov. 16 game versus Arkansas-Little Rock, in which the Minutemen overcame a 10-point Trojan halftime lead to win 66-60. And last year’s team most likely wouldn’t have pulled out this year’s Nov. 27 game against Oregon (62-58) and Saturday’s game at North Carolina State (69-62) – both games in which UMass had to hold on to win in the final minutes.

The reasons for change could be many things. The new coach. The new cast. The new offense. But that doesn’t matter. What is important is the fact that UMass has shown consistency. The Minutemen could have easily folded to Little Rock (like they did to Holy Cross last year) when the Trojans went up 10, especially with the game being their first of the season. And they could have given up all hope last weekend in Raleigh when the Wolfpack tied the game up early in the second half, thanks in part to its full-court pressure, and sent its 10,000-plus fans into frenzy.

But they didn’t.

“That was the first time we played someone who really pressured us that much,” said coach Steve Lappas, whose squad turned the ball over 18 times to State’s pressure, but negated those mistakes with its out-shooting and out-rebounding of the Pack. “So hopefully we learn from that, and not turn the ball over as much next time.”

Those are the essentials, so far.

Tonight at the Mullins Center, Amherst will get its first look at undefeated UMass (4-0) since its 66-59 defeat of Marist back on Nov. 24. Welcoming Holy Cross (2-3) to the neighborhood, the Minutemen will look to avenge its loss to the Crusaders a year ago, trying not to overlook them with games against No. 15 Boston College and UConn slated in the next seven days.

“After what happened last year, they can’t be looking past these guys,” said Lappas, who is just the third first-year coach in UMass history to begin a season 4-0. “I can see a look in their eyes that they’re determined.”

The Crusaders are led by Tim Szatko, the Patriot League’s preseason Player of the Year, who is averaging 10.2 points a game – just three under the number he put up versus UMass last year.

He is joined in the starting lineup by guards Brian Wilson and Ryan Serravalle, who are averaging 11.6 and 11.4 points, respectively. Last year, Wilson and Serravalle combined for only eight points in the Purple and White’s victory. But besides Szatko, the Crusaders that hurt UMass in that game – Josh Sankes (25 points and 17 rebounds) and Juan Pegues (13 points) – have since graduated from the team that lost to Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

In order to go 5-0, all UMass has to do is shoot about 40 percent from the field and take advantage of their size underneath. Six-foot-11-inch Nate Lufkin patrols the paint for Holy Cross, but he is only a freshman and his inexperience has shown with his 3.0 points and 3.8 rebounds a game.

“We have to rebound the ball,” Lappas said. “We need to be the aggressors in the game. We need to go after the ball hard. We need to put some pressure on their perimeter guys. And we need to take control of the game and not be back on our heels.”

Look for the Crusaders to pack themselves in on defense and force UMass to hit its shots, but look for the opposite on the other end of the court. The Minutemen will most likely switch up a lot on defense, and pressure the ball intensely, as they have done all year.