ATHENS, Ohio – Ohio scored 21 straight points early in the second half to run away with an 87-65 victory against Kent State on Wednesday night at The Convo.

Walter Offutt scored a career-high 19 points, and D.J. Cooper added 18 points as five Bobcats reached double figures. Nick Kellogg connected on five 3-pointers to finish with 15 points, Ivo Baltic tallied 11 points and Reggie Keely scored 10 points.

Chris Evans came off the bench to lead Kent State (12-5, 2-2 Mid-American conference) with 18 pionts. Michael Porrini had 10 points, while leading scorer Justin Greene was held to 10 points.

Ohio (14-4, 2-2 MAC) led by three at halftime and the lead was cut to one with a Porrini basket to open the second half, but the Bobcats dominated the next seven minutes.

Cooper got a steal and assisted on a Jon Smith dunk to start the run. Offutt made a free throw, Cooper drained a 3-pointer, and after another Offutt free throw, Cooper knocked down another triple to make the score 51-40.

Reggie Keely scored a basket, Offutt connected on two at the foul line, Cooper scored a layup off a steal and Offutt drilled a trey off a Stevie Taylor assist. Taylor completed the run with a fast-break layup for a 62-40 lead.

Porrini finally ended the run by scoring a layup after recovering a loose ball, but Ohio still dominated the rest of the half. The lead was as big as 30 points on a Kellogg 3-pointer that made the score 81-51 with 5:13 remaining.

Ohio outscored Kent State 46-27 in the second half, making 48.1 percent of its shots after halftime while holding the Golden Flashes to 40 percent shooting after they made 70 percent in the first half.

Kent State committed 19 turnovers leading to 25 Ohio points. The Bobcats had only 11 turnovers for 12 Golden Flashes points.

The first run of a back-and-forth first half belonged to the Bobcats, who scored the first six points and opened up a 17-7 lead with 12:50 remaining on an Offutt layup.

Evans dunked to tie the game at 19, though, scored a layup to tie the game at 21 and gave the Golden Flashes their first lead of the game, 23-21, at the 7:16 mark. He scored the ninth straight point for his team with a trey that made it 26-23 with 6:39 remaining.

Greene’s layup at the 5:30 mark gave Kent State its largest lead, 30-25. After another Evans dunk made it a four-point game, Kellogg knocked down a trey and Baltic gave Ohio the lead back with a steal and dunk with three minutes left.

Offutt hit a 3-pointer to make it 36-32 with 2:31 left in the half. He later drilled another to make it 39-34, and after Kent State cut its deficit to one, Offutt scored a layup just before the buzzer to give Ohio a 41-38 halftime lead.

Ohio dominated the boards, 37-25, with a 16-4 advantage in offensive rebounds leading to a 22-4 edge in second-chance points. Keely led the way with nine rebounds, while Smith and Cooper had five each. Cooper added five steals.

Beyond the arc, Ohio came out of a slump with an 11-of-21 performance, including a 5-for-7 night by Kellogg. Offutt and Cooper both were 3 for 6. Kent State made 3 of 11 3-point tries.

The Bobcats will honor Gary Trent during Saturday’s game against Miami at 2 p.m. Saturday at The Convo.