CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Ohio led from start to finish, getting 22 points from Ivo Baltic in a dominating 76-59 victory against Northern Iowa at the McLeod Center.

The Bobcats (10-1) led 44-32 at halftime and had the game nearly put away midway through the second half with a 22-point advantage in a battle of RPI top-20 teams.

D.J. Cooper scored 13 points and had four rebounds and four assists, Nick Kellogg scored 11 points and dished out five assists and T.J. Hall totaled 10 points.

Ohio shot 51.7 percent and made 11 of 21 3-point attempts, while Northern Iowa (10-2) shot just 35.2 percent in the game.

Jake Koch paced the Panthers with 15 points, with Anthony James and Marc Sonnen adding 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Jon Smith hit a free throw, Baltic scored a jumper and Kellogg hit the first of three triples to get the Bobcats off to a quick 6-0 start.

It was 17-11 with 12 minutes left in the first half and Cooper hit a 3-pointer, followed by a Baltic jumper to but the Bobcats up 22-11.

The lead was still 11 when a jumper by Cooper, a dunk by TyQuane Goard and Baltic 3-pointer turned it into a 39-21 Ohio lead with 2:46 to go before the half.

Northern Iowa battled to get within 12 at halftime and got within eight early in the second half on a Koch layup that made the score 47-39.

Ohio came back, though, with eight straight points as Walter Offutt and Kellogg hit back-to-back 3-pointers and then Baltic got a layup to make it 55-39.

The Panthers got it down to 12 at the 14:24 mark on an Austin Pehl jumper, but the Bobcats responded with a 12-2 run that at one point included five straight Keely points and was capped off by a Hall trey that made it 67-45 with 10:34 remaining.

Northern Iowa did not get any closer than 16 points after that.

Baltic was 10 of 14, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range, while scoring his season-best. He had 16 by halftime and scored all of his points in the first 27 minutes.

Ohio had a 37-32 rebounding advantage and got its boards from a balanced effort led by Ricardo Johnson with five. Six different players had four rebounds for the Bobcats. Koch had a game-high six for the Panthers.

The Bobcats had more turnovers, 10-9, and sent the Panthers to the line more. Ohio was just 5 of 9 on free throws, whereas Northern Iowa was 15 of 20.

Ohio plays its final three games of the non-conference slated at home, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest Friday against North Carolina A&T.