Nick Kellogg scored a season-high 23 points, benefiting from some of D.J. Cooper's season-high 15 assists, as Ohio defeated Akron 79-70 Wednesday night.
Kellogg made 6 of 9 from 3-point range, and Cooper - normally the Bobcats' leading scorer - assisted on four. Cooper had 13 points and fell two rebounds short of a triple-double with eight.
The Bobcats (8-8, 1-1 Mid-American Conference), playing a rematch of the conference championship game they won last season, led from wire to wire. Akron (10-6, 1-1), which had a chance to even a series that dates to the 1911-12 season, trailed by as many as 24 points. Ohio leads the series 32-30.
Tommy Freeman added 16 points and DeVaughn Washington had 11 for Ohio, which had lost two consecutive overtime games, including a triple-OT affair against Miami (Ohio) on Sunday.
Steve McNees led Akron with 15 points.
