As the only upperclassmen in Seton Hall’s rotation, seniors Herb Pope and Jordan Theodore have no choice but to lead. But it was their younger teammates who helped keyed last night’s 81-59 rout of previously unbeaten Auburn at Prudential Center.

Pope had game-highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds, while the efficient Theodore had 10 assists and just two turnovers. But the Pirates (6-1) had three underclassmen in double-figures in freshman Aaron Cosby and sophomores Fuquan Edwin and Patrik Auda, leading the way in a shocking blowout.

“I tip my hat to the young guys. … They played a hell of game,” Theodore said. “I’ve just got to keep leading and we’re going to be great.’’

Auda had a career-high 17 points, Edwin 14 and Cosby a career-high 13.

“They finally stopped being practice players,” Pope said. “They look awesome when I’m playing with them [in practice]. I’m like, ‘Finally.’ I didn’t have to yell one time at Pat to shoot the ball, to go at this guy.”

Kevin Willard’s Pirates ran off to an 18-7 lead on Edwin’s jump shot, and Willard had the luxury of managing Pope to a season-low 31 minutes. Pope took an alley-oop dunk from Theodore off an inbounds late in the half to stave off one of the team’s typical collapses just before intermission.

“You guys saw a roar we had a fire we didn’t know we could play with,” Theodore said. “We just took over. Sorry, Auburn.’’

Theodore, second in the Big East in assists, has shown leadership, and arrives 2 1/2 hours before tipoffs to work on his shot. But last night Cosby came with him, and came through with 4-of-9 3-point shooting, and hit some big early buckets.

“He can be really good. He can shoot, he’s strong, athletic, can play the one also,” Theodore said. “I just think he can be great.”