ATHENS, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference’s hottest team finally met its match Tuesday night, as Akron, riding a seven-game winning streak, was pounded by Ohio, 80-55, at The Convo on Senior Night.

D.J. Cooper hit a career-high seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points to go with nine assists and eight rebounds as the Bobcats won their fifth in a row, pulling away late in the first half and continuing to hammer the Zips in the second half to sweep the season series.

Ivo Baltic added 17 points and six rebounds, and DeVaughn Washington scored 11 points despite being limited to 19 foul-plagued minutes.

“I just got into a little rhythm, I feel like,” Cooper said. “I credit my team though. They’ve been playing great for so many games teams have been going under on me, so they don’t want to leave DeVaughn, Tommy (Freeman) and Nick (Kellogg), so I give them the credit for that. "

Alex Abreu scored 11 points, and Brett McKnight scored 10 points for the Zips, who shot just 33.3 percent in the first half while falling behind 44-22 at the break.

The game was tied at 18 midway through the first half, but the Zips (19-9, 9-6 MAC) managed only four points in the final 10 minutes.

A Cooper 3-pointer capped off a 7-0 run, and after McKnight got a layup with 6:15 remaining, Ohio (17-13, 9-6 MAC) rattled off 15 consecutive points, including two more Cooper treys and a pair of Adetunji Adedipe layups while he filled in on Ohio’s foul-troubled front line.

A pair of Daryl Roberts free throws finally ended the Akron scoring drought, but Asown Sayles closed out the half with consecutive layups to give the Bobcats a 44-22 lead at the break.

Washington opened the second half with an alley-oop dunk from Cooper, and the Bobcats added two more baskets that in total, spanning to the middle of the first half, made a 32-4 run that gave Ohio a 50-22 lead.

The lead reached as much as 30 on three different occasions in the second half, and Akron never got closer than 23 after the first basket of the second 20 minutes.

“They made shots,” Akron coach Keith Dambrot said. “They hit us between the eyes and they focused for 40 minutes. They played well. They manhandled us in all areas. They pressured our guards, they took us off the ball screens and killed us on the boards.”

The Bobcats dominated in nearly every statistical category. They shot 51.8 percent from the field, including 56.3 percent in the first half. Ohio was 14 of 16 at the foul line, compared to 8 of 11 for Akron.

Ohio had a 40-21 rebounding advantage, including 13-5 on the offensive glass, and the Zips committed more turnovers, 12-11.

“I think we’re doing a better job of pursuing the ball,” Washington said. “Boxing out is not enough. I think we’re doing a way better job of pursuing it.”

Cooper made his seven 3-pointers on 10 tries, while Nick Kellogg and Tommy Freeman combined to go 1 of 10.

Akron actually led in the early going, getting two straight baskets by Zeke Marshall to start the game. The Zips also held advantages of 7-3 and 9-6, but eight straight Bobcats points put them on top for the first time.

“We played with a great team attitude and I thought we played with great effort,” Ohio coach John Groce said. “We had some really good individual performances but I think the thing that stood out was we put together a complete game for the first time in a while, at both ends of the floor.”

The Zips’ final lead was at 16-15 on a Nikola Cvetinovic jumper. The Bobcats regained the lead on a Baltic three-point play.

After going 1-4 the first time through against the MAC East, Ohio is off to a 4-0 start that has moved it from last place to third place.

The Bobcats have a chance to complete an undefeated run the second time through Eastern Division play and possibly earn a MAC tournament bye when they play their regular season finale at 7 p.m. Friday against Miami in Oxford.