ATHENS, Ohio – D.J. Cooper set the single-game school assists record with 17 assists, including 13 of them in the first half when Ohio built a 32-point lead, as the Bobcats blew out rival Marshall, 94-57, at The Convo on Saturday.

Nick Kellogg scored 19 of his 22 points before halftime and the Bobcats made all 14 of their field goal tries inside the arc in the first half, thanks in large part to 19 Marshall turnovers that led to 39 Ohio points and a 56-24 advantage.

Reggie Keely scored 18 points, Walter Offutt had 13 points and Cooper and Ivo Baltic finished with 12 points each.

“We’ve talked a lot about eliminating excuses and doing your job,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “Today, we were very consistent in doing our job.”

The Bobcats (9-5) made 16 of their first 18 shots overall, shot 74.1 percent in the first half and connected on a Convo record 65.3 percent of their attempts overall.

D.D. Scarver had 13 points and Jamir Hanner had 12 points for the Thundering Herd (7-8).

Cooper, who is the Mid-American Conference’s all-time leader in career assists, topped the single-game Ohio mark of 16 held for 25 years by Dennis Whitaker. Cooper’s previous high was 15.

The record-breaking assist came with 5:56 remaining when Cooper found Kellogg in the corner for a 3-pointer. He had tied the record only 25 seconds earlier, feeding Keely for a layup, but the one before that might have been the prettiest of the day. It came much earlier in the first half when Cooper made a no-look behind-the-back back door pass to Offutt streaking to the hoop for a basket and a foul.

“Guys were just getting in the lane and I was just pushing,” Cooper said. “Coach was talking all week about everybody doing their job.”

The tone was set early with the Bobcats opening a 9-1 lead in the first three minutes. Elijah Pittman responded with a 3-pointer for the Thundering Herd, but Ohio came back with eight straight, capped by a Baltic dunk at the 15:21 mark.

Ohio’s lead was 20-10 with 12:31 remaining when the Bobcats made another huge push, outscoring the Thundering Herd, 19-2, in only a four-minute span. Cooper assisted on a Kellogg 3-pointer, came up with a steal and then assisted on a Ricardo Johnson layup that made the score 30-12.

Cooper found Keely for a dunk, Baltic threw down a slam after a steal, Keely scored on another Cooper assist and Cooper drained a 3-pointer that put Ohio on top 39-12 with 8:12 remaining, capping a run of 14 straight points.

“We came out really flat, the flattest we’ve ever been” Marshall’s Dennis Tinnon said. “They got a lot of wide open dunks, dribble penetration, kicks, 3s, they were getting to the free throw line a lot.”

Marshall cut its deficit to 39-18, but the Bobcats outscored the Thundering Herd, 15-3, during the next five minutes.

The Bobcats made 20 of 27 shots in the first half.

“Our inability to take care of the basketball at every position and every player was inexplicable,” Marshall coach Tom Herrion said. “No team in the country has defense for those turnovers.”

Seven straight Marshall points in the first minute of the first half forced an Ohio timeout, but 56-31 was as close as the Thundering Herd got in second half. A Keely three-point play got things going back in the Bobcats’ favor.

The Bobcats had a 10-0 run, capped by Keely’s first career 3-pointer, giving them their biggest lead, 87-49, with 4:15 remaining.

“When we can be disciplined enough to run the proper lanes and use our athleticism in terms of sprinting, we’re a pretty good team,” Christian said. “D.J. just played the game the right way. He played sound the whole game.”

All 12 of Ohio’s active players scored and most of them put up impressive shooting numbers. Baltic was 6 of 7, Keely was 8 of 9 and Kellogg was 6 of 11, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range after combining to go 0 for 11 the last two games while dealing with a finger injury.

“It feels better,” Kellogg said. “I’m just glad to get out of that slump. Coop found me a couple time, Walt did, our bigs. I was just glad my teammates still have confidence in me.”

A sprained ankle kept Travis Wilkins from playing for the second straight game.

Marshall leading scorer DeAndre Kane returned from a broken hand that caused him to miss several games, but he had a tough night, scoring only six points on 3-of-10 shooting before fouling out in only 20 minutes played.

It was the third straight loss for Marshall, which followed a blowout loss at Kentucky with a home defeat against Delaware State.

“When you get your butt whipped like that, it’s time to get on the bus and get back home,” Herrion said.

One positive for the Thundering Herd was 25 offensive rebounds, but they turned them into only 14 second-chance points. They shot 35.1 percent from the floor and made only 14 of 29 free throws, including 4 of 13 in the first half. Tinnon had 13 boards but was 2 of 9 from the field.

The Bobcats begin MAC play with a 7 p.m. home game Wednesday against Buffalo.