ATHENS – Dwight Wilson III scored a career-high 27 points, but it was not enough as Ohio fell to Mid-American Conference-leading Kent State 70-65 on Friday night at The Convo.

Trailing by 12 points in the second half, the Bobcats (9-8, 1-3 MAC) got to within three, but the Golden Flashes (14-3, 4-0 MAC) were able to close it out.

Malique Jacobs and Miryne Thomas had 17 points each for Kent State. Reigning MAC Player of the Year Sincere Carry was held to 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

"Tough loss," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. "Give Kent State a lot of credit. I thought our guys really battled and competed.

After trailing by a point at halftime, Kent State was down 37-35 following an AJ Clayton 3-pointer. The Golden Flashes had a decisive 15-3 run after that, going up 52-40 on a Carry 3-pointer with 9:55 remaining.

Ohio got to within three on multiple occasions. Miles Brown’s jumper with 4:15 to play made it 61-58, and a Wilson layup with 1:21 remaining put the score at 66-63. After a Miryne layup, a pair of Wilson free throws had the Bobcat down three again with 21 seconds to go.

Carry missed on the front end of a one-and-one to give the Bobcats a chance, but Miles Brown’s 3-pointer was off the mark, and Miryne put the game away with two free throws in the final second. Kent State finished just 8 of 15 at the foul line.

Neither team led by more than five points in a competitive first half.

Brown scored 12 points, with Ben Roderick adding nine points for Ohio. Freshman AJ Brown was scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting.

Kent State had more offensive rebounds, 11-7, and fewer turnovers, 16-10.

“When you play a really good team, your margin for error is smaller,” Boals said. “And if you look at the offensive rebounds and turnover differential, that's 10 more possessions that they got and they won by five. We got to do a better job taking care of the ball and obviously blocking out.”

The Bobcats play Toledo at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Savage Arena.