Seton Hall 81, Rutgers 54: Freshman Isaiah Whitehead scored 17 of his season-high 25 points in the first half as the Pirates raced out to a big lead and never looked back at the visiting Scarlet Knights.

Brandon Mobley scored 12 points and Sterling Gibbs added 11 for Seton Hall (7-0), which took the first annual Garden State Hardwood Classic from its former Big East rival. Angel Delgado hauled in 13 rebounds to go with 10 points, and Desi Rodriguez came off the bench to grab 11 boards for the Pirates.

Myles Mack collected 15 points and six rebounds to lead Rutgers (4-4), which struggled to 30.3 percent from the field. Mike Williams added 15 points for the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers held an 8-7 lead early before Seton Hall ripped off an 18-4 run highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from Gibbs and Mobley to take control. Whitehead added a 3-pointer as the lead stretched to 40-17 and went 7-of-8 from the field in the first half to help the Pirates to a 47-25 lead at the break.

The Scarlet Knights cut the deficit to 14 points early in the second before Mobley’s free throws capped a 13-0 burst and left Seton Hall up 60-33 with 15 minutes to play. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Mobley and Whitehead pushed it to 66-37 as the Pirates cruised.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Rutgers entered the game shooting 28 percent from 3-point range and went 3-of-13 from beyond the arc. … Whitehead has reached double figures in four straight games after totaling 18 points on 7-of-30 shooting in the first three games. … Freshman Delgado (10.1 rebounds) has led Seton Hall on the boards in each of the first seven games.