ATHENS, Ohio – Ohio got off to a quick start and blew away Marietta on Wednesday night, 88-54.

The Bobcats ran out to a 28-3 lead, led 56-26 at halftime and dominated the Pioneers.

D.J. Cooper scored 15 points and dished out seven assists in just 20 minutes to lead five Ohio players in double figures and six with at least eight points.

“I think the biggest thing that stood out was how mentally ready we were to play,” Ohio coach John Groce said. “Coming off a road trip, you’re dealing with 18-to-22-year-olds with everybody telling them how good they are when in reality it’s probably somewhere right in the middle – maybe not quite as good as they seem and not quite as bad either. I thought our mindset was really good.”

Ohio (8-1) shot 53.0 percent, while Marietta (6-2) connected on just 26.5 percent of its attempts. The Bobcats were 12 of 26 from beyond the arc, compared to just 5 of 29 by the Pioneers.

Nick Kellogg was 4 of 5 from deep for 12 points, while Cooper made 3 of 6 and Stevie Taylor was 3 of 6 and finished with 11 points along with four assists and five rebounds, both career highs.

Reggie Keely had 13 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes, and Walter Offutt finished with 11 points.

Jason Humphrey led Marietta with 11 points. Kevin Knab scored 10 points.

Playing against a Division III opponent and coming off road-trip victories against Oakland and then Portland, Ohio was emphasizing focus, Groce said.

“I wanted to see where our mind was,” he said. “I wanted to see if we matured in that area and thought our guys showed that tonight. It probably helped a little bit when they came out for warm-ups, they thought they were in a road game. That fired them up a little bit as a unit.”

With just a short trip to Athens, Marietta had its fan show up in full force before by far the largest crowd this season of 8,672.

The support, though, did not translate into success for the Pioneers, who quickly found themselves out of the game.

Marietta did fare better in the second half, however. It faced its biggest deficit of 37 points with 12:25 remaining but outscored Ohio by three the rest of the way. The Pioneers had a few scoring binges that were not pleasing to Groce.

“I thought we got sloppy defensively with about 12 minutes to go and started trading baskets and it started looking like an NBA All-Star Game and I wasn’t real thrilled about that,” he said. “That’s why I burned a couple timeouts, but all in all, I thought our effort was good and I thought our attitude was tremendous.”

Ohio had more turnovers than Marietta, 15-11, but did not pressure its foe after building a big lead. The Bobcats won the battle on the boards, 49-35. Jon Smith led all players with nine boards – to go with four blocks – in 18 minutes.

“Guys were really focused two days ago when we got back after a long west coast road trip,” Groce said. “They’re pretty locked in right now. As long as they stay that way, I think we can continue to get better.”

The Bobcats hit the road for the first of two straight away games when they face Wright State at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Nutter Center in Dayton.

Game notes

Belton sees first action

Ohio emptied its bench for the first time this year, and walk-on transfer center Kenny Belton saw his first action of the year, scoring four points and grabbing one offensive rebound.

“He practiced yesterday for the first time full-court contact,” Groce said. “I wanted to put him in a little bit earlier, but after watching him yesterday, I was afraid he’d need an oxygen mask if I put him in too early. I just wanted to give him a few minutes there where I said to him, ‘Play as hard as you can possibly play,’ and he came in and did a pretty good job until about 45 seconds left and then he hit a wall.”

The 6-8 senior missed most of three seasons at Cincinnati because of a serious back injury. He transferred to Ohio but still had some medical and weight issues to overcome.

“Obviously, his conditioning isn’t exactly where it needs to be and neither is his weight at this point, and I think those go hand in hand a little bit,” Groce said. “But he is a big body and he is a big presence and he did some good things in the last couple minutes.”

His teammates celebrated both times he scored, especially when he scored through contact while drawing a foul. He missed the free throw.

Ethan Jacobs scored two points and David McKinley and Nick Goff also saw action in the final minutes.

Future schedules could include more non-Division I opponents

For the second time under Groce, Ohio played a regular season game against a non-Division I opponent, and it is something the Bobcats likely will do again in the future.

“I think philosophically, it’s something that we’ll entertain every year of possibly playing one,” he said. “It just depends on the year and kind of the timing of the game.”

The entire scheduling philosophy will change beginning next season, though, when the university switches from quarters to semesters, but there still could be a place for playing a team like Marietta again.

“Obviously next year our entire format changes,” Groce said. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve been on quarters. Now we’re going to go to semesters. We’ll probably have a week off – in fact I know we will – during December centered right around final exams because they’ll be orchestrated a little bit differently now that we’re on semesters. … It’s definitely something we can continue to do moving forward, for sure.”

Young players growing up

When Ohio’s defense got sloppy in the second half, Groce did not have to say anything. Cooper already did.

“I think he’s grown up a lot,” Groce said.

But it is not just Cooper, but rather the team as a whole and in particular the group of juniors who have played key roles since their freshman seasons.

“I tease these guys a lot in practice,” Groce said. “Every once in a while, I’ll grab one of those juniors and I’ll say, ‘What the heck was I thinking playing all of you guys as freshmen?’ Holy cow. It’s just amazing how your mindset changes.”

During Groce’s first three seasons in Athens, there were large numbers of new players every year. This season, however, 11 of the 14 guys on the roster are back from last year, allowing them to know what is expected of them.

“They have a pretty good idea, and some of them even more than last year,” Groce said. “That experience has been a valuable teacher and I think D.J. is a prime example of that. I think he’s started to grow up a little bit and has started to mature and I think mentally he’s in a really good place right now and we need him to continue to be in that place.”