ATHENS, Ohio – D.J. Cooper and Reggie Keely combined for 40 points despite only playing 23 minutes each as Ohio coasted for the second straight game, beating Buffalo, 86-68, in its Mid-American Conference opener on Wednesday night at The Convo.

Both players subbed out early in the second half with the Bobcats leading by more than 30 points. Cooper was 7 of 9, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, finishing with 21 points and seven assists, while Keely went 6 of 10 from the field and 7 of 10 at the foul line, scoring 19 points to go with five rebounds.

Following a rout of Marshall on Saturday, Ohio (10-5, 1-0 MAC) scored more than 50 points in the first half for the second straight game, taking a 53-31 advantage into the locker room against the Bulls (5-10, 0-1 MAC).

“We’re very excited to start MAC play on the right foot,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “We came out with a lot of energy. We ran the floor really well. It was the best half of offense we’ve played, with 16 assists and only four turnovers.”

Forward Javon McCrae and guard Jarryn Skeete each scored 13 points to lead Buffalo, but McCrae was just 6 of 15 from the field and struggled through foul trouble, picking up his fourth less than four minutes into the second half.

It was not until the final seven and a half minutes of the first half that the Bobcats got rolling. They led just 27-22 after a Will Regan 3-pointer, but they came through with nine straight points in two minutes to go up 36-22 on an Ivo Baltic jumper.

Ohio’s lead was 13 with 3:21 remaining, but a Nick Kellogg 3-pointer started an 11-2 run to end the first half with the Bobcats on top, 53-31. Cooper scored the final five points with a 3-pointer and then a pair of free throws with five seconds left. All but three of Cooper’s points came in the first half.

Following his school-record 17-assist performance, Cooper gave his team a boost this time with his shooting.

“I’d rather get my guys involved,” Cooper said. “I like it when they show and go, but either way, as long as we win, that’s all that matters.”

T.J. Hall scored a layup on a Cooper assist at the 14:04 mark of the second half to start a 10-0 run. Cooper nailed a trey before Stevie Taylor hit Hall for a 3-pointer. Taylor’s own layup made it 69-36 with 12:22 remaining.

After that, Cooper, Keely and Baltic all enjoyed the rest of the night from the bench, giving way to the bench.

“We’ve been talking a lot about game energy, what it’s going to take to win, what’s been the problem and what’s been good,” Christian said. “It starts with D.J. and then it spreads to everyone else. Now we’ve got to get it spreading to guys off the bench. Jon (Smith) does a pretty good job of that. Ric (Johnson) does a pretty good job of that, too, but everyone else who comes in has to play as hard or harder than that guy they’re replacing if we want to compete for this championship.”

The Bobcats shot 50.8 percent in the game, including 64.5 percent in the first half. They made 9 of 18 3-pointers. The Bulls connected on just 38.2 percent of their shots, making 5 of 16 shots from deep.

Ten of Buffalo’s 17 turnovers came in the first half. Ohio scored 21 points off turnovers and held a 23-2 advantage in fast break points.

Xavier Ford was the game’s leading rebounder with nine. Jon Smith had seven for the Bobcats, who were outrebounded, 39-35.

“Coach Christian does a great job in practice telling us what we’re striving for,” Cooper said. “We’re not just trying to get a MAC tournament championship. We’re trying for that, but we want to win the regular season first.”

Next up, Ohio will aim for its first road win of the season when it travels to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan at 2 p.m. Saturday.