When Silas Demary Jr. walked off the court on April 6 after his UConn Huskies lost the national championship game 69-63 to Michigan, he had to have carried thoughts of “what if” with him.

What if he had not been in foul trouble? What if he could have played more than 21 minutes? What if he had managed to score more than two points? What if weren’t playing injured? What if he didn’t foul out?

He likely shoved those memories to the back of his mind Friday night after No. 4 UConn defeated the No. 16 Michigan Wolverines 85-77 as the headline game of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series in Boston.

Officials blew their whistles 48 times in the physical game at TD Garden – 22 of the fouls called on UConn – but Demary managed to escape foul trouble this time. He looked every bit like the senior leader, surrounded much of the night by a crew of sophomores and freshmen, and adeptly running the offense.

Demary scored 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting and added seven rebounds and four assists.

Braylon Mullins, Demary’s wingman in what is considered to be one of the nation’s best backcourts, contributed a game-high 23 points. Freshman Colben Landrew saw extended time, scoring 14 points and gathering eight rebounds in 23 minutes.

Trey McKenney led Michigan (1-1) with 22 points.

Here’s what else stood out on Friday night in Boston.

The Huskies (2-0), of course, were greeted like the home team at the “neutral site” TD Garden, which is located just 85 miles from Gampel Pavilion on the UConn campus in Storrs. But the partisan crowd was a bit quiet until fiery head coach Dan Hurley showed his extreme displeasure about a foul called on Landrew with UConn leading 32-27 at the 4:54 mark of the half.

Between the Landrew foul and a technical foul called against UConn, Michigan had four shots at the free-throw line and made just one. The crowd, in a frenzy after Hurley’s expression that mixed both anger and frustration, propelled the Huskies to an 11-2 run to close the half.

UConn took a 43-30 lead into halftime.

This night should have ended in pure bliss for the team, the coaching staff and the fans.

But the last few minutes of the game provided a reminder that the team chemistry that is developing is only an injury away from being halted.

Mullins missed a dunk that would have electrified the crowd, and he appeared to land awkwardly. He was fouled on the play and walked to the line, noticeably limping, with just under two minutes remaining and drained both shots to put UConn up 83-68. Mullins left the game briefly and returned.

Mullins missed much of the summer practices and preseason play due to recovery from an undisclosed injury.

UConn was up by 15 points with 1:54 left but won by only eight points. The Huskies did not make a basket in the final 5:38 of the contest, scoring all 10 of their final points on foul shots.

Michigan outscored UConn 9-2 after the Mullins free throws.