Herb Pope collected 23 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore Patrik Auda added a career-high 17 points to lead host Seton Hall to a 81-59 victory over Auburn on Friday in the Big East/SEC Challenge.

Jordan Theodore had a tough shooting night (0-for-6 from the field) but contributed nine assists for the Pirates (6-1), who buried 10 3-pointers and dominated on the glass 39-25.

The Big East owns a 5-2 advantage over the SEC so far, with seven victories needed to clinch the Challenge win.

Seton Hall led 37-31 at the half and slowly pulled away after the break. Pope scored four points and Auda buried a 3-pointer during the decisive 14-2 run that pushed the advantage to 72-50 with 4:40 remaining.

Pope has recorded a double-double in all but one of the Pirates’ seven games, coming up short with a 32-point, nine-rebound performance in Seton Hall’s lone setback against Northwestern on Nov. 20.

The Pirates will not have a true road game until a trip to Dayton on Dec. 21, and do not face a ranked opponent until Big East play starts with a trip to No. 3 Syracuse on Dec. 28.

Rob Chubb scored 12 points for Auburn (4-1).