AKRON – Ohio won for the first time in almost eight years at James A. Rhodes Arena, getting 23 points from freshman Nick Kellogg in a 79-70 victory against Akron on Wednesday night.

D.J. Cooper added 13 points, a career-high and arena-record 15 assists and eight rebounds as the Bobcats (8-8, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) built a halftime lead of 16 and led by as many as 24 points, recovering from a triple-overtime MAC-opening loss to rival Miami on Sunday.

Ohio made 13 of 25 3-pointers, including six of them by Kellogg and five by Tommy Freeman, and shot 53 percent from the field, while Akron made just 37 percent of its field goal tries.

Steve McNeese was the Zips’ only player to reach double-figures with 15 points.

Ivo Baltic scored on a putback eight seconds into the game and Ohio never trailed after that.

Up 19-16, the Bobcats put together a huge run, outscoring the Zips 18-5 over the final eight minutes to take a 37-21 lead into the break. Ohio had four 3-pointers during the run by four different players.

Akron (10-6, 1-1 MAC) cut the deficit to 37-29 early in the second half, but Kellogg scored 3-pointers on three straight possessions during an 11-4 run that pushed the lead to 48-33.

Another Kellogg trey gave Ohio a 62-38 lead, and the Bobcats capped off an 11-0 run with a Baltic layup with 8:55 remaining.

The Zips cut the deficit during the final nine minutes, with a McNeese 3-pointer with 1:47 to go making it 74-66, but they missed four straight triple tries and got no closer.

DeVaughn Washington made 7 of 8 free throws and finished with 11 points and six rebounds for Ohio.

Seven-footer Zeke Marshall scored nine points and had just five rebounds while being limited to 21 foul-plagued minutes.

Brett McClanahan finished with nine points for the Zips, while the team’s leading scorer Nikola Cvetinovic had just seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Kent State visits The Convo for a 7 p.m. game Saturday.