ATHENS – Kent State went on an early 17-0 run and coasted to a 75-61 victory that gave Ohio back-to-back losses for the first time all season Saturday at The Convo.

Devareaux Manley and Derek Jackson scored 17 and 16 points, respectively, and Kris Brewer had 12 points for the Golden Flashes (16-13, 7-9 Mid-American Conference).

Travis Wilkins was the only Ohio player in double figures with 14 points.

It ruined the Bobcats’ Senior Day, in which injured senior Ricardo Johnson started ceremoniously and was removed from the game immediately. It also gave Ohio its first losing conference record in MAC home games in 16 years at 4-5 and means the Bobcats (19-10, 9-7 MAC) likely will have to win their final two games on the road to have any chance at earning one of the conference tournament byes as a top-four seed.

"It's extremely disappointing,” Wilkins said. “We disappointed not only ourselves as a team and our coaching staff, but we disappointed a lot of people out here. We had a lot of family supporting us, and it's a hard one to swallow.”

Wilkins hit a 3-pointer that gave Ohio an early 8-3 lead but it went scoreless for nearly eight minutes as Kent State forged ahead 20-8 on a Manley 3-pointer with 9:09 remaining in the first half.

Stevie Taylor broke the scoring drought with a layup, but Ohio only got as close as six on a pair of Jon Smith free throws at the 6:05 mark. The Golden Flashes scored six straight points and led 36-24 at halftime.

As close as the Bobcats got in the second half was 63-51 on a Taylor three-point play with 4:46 remaining.

After shooting 20.7 percent in the first half, Ohio bounced back to shoot 50 percent in the second half, but the Zips were a consistent 48.9 percent from the floor in the game and went 6 of 8 from long range, compared to just 2 of 11 by the Bobcats.

Ohio failed to take advantage of 33 free throws, making just 18 of them, while Kent State was 6 of 6. The Zips also won despite 19 turnovers with the Bobcats committing only eight. Ohio had 14 offensive rebounds to nine for Kent State.

“I thought that we weren't making the right plays,” Christian said. “We would turn them over, but it wasn't leading to anything. We weren't making the right plays on the break. We weren't passing the ball. We weren't finishing any plays.”

Smith led Ohio’s efforts on the boards with seven to go with eight points and three steals. T.J. Hall had four points, four rebounds and four steals but was just 1 of 7 shooting. Nick Kellogg was 0 of 6 from the field and scored only two points.

Brewer dished out eight assists, while Mark Henninger and Jackson finished with eight rebounds apiece. Jackson added three steals.

“We're at that point where you've got to make a determination as to what you want this thing to become,” Christian said. “Now with that, that means some guys might have to fight through injuries a little better. The nagging stuff is what you've got to put on the shelf as best as you can, and know that there's a couple weeks left. I do know that you're either fighting to keep it going - to play that one more game - or you're looking forward for it to end. Each guy on our team has to make those decisions."

Ohio plays at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bowling Green.