No. 2 Baylor placed five players in double figures in pulling away from Auburn in the second half for an 84-72 victory Saturday afternoon in a SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Waco, Texas.

The win was Baylor's seventh in eight appearances in the event and moved Bears (16-0) to within one victory of matching the program's best start to a season ever of 17-0 in 2012.

Adam Flagler (19 points), Jared Butler (16), MaCio Teague (15), Davion Mitchell (13), and Matthew Mayer (13) keyed the triumph as the Bears shot the ball much more effectively in the second half to pull away after leading by only five at halftime.

The loss was just the third for the SEC's Tigers (10-8) in their last seven games since freshman Sharife Cooper was declared eligible for the season. Cooper struggled against Baylor's aggressive defense with only four points in the first half before finishing with 15 points, second to Jaylin Williams' 17 for Auburn.

JT Thor scored 13, Allen Flanigan 11, and Devan Cambridge 10 for the Tigers.

Neither team exactly lit it up in the first half with the Bears going 13-for-34 (38.2 percent) overall and 4-for-13 on 3-point attempts, while the Tigers made 11 of 32 (34.4 percent) overall and just 3 of 16 from beyond the arc.

The Bears used an 8-0 run for a 29-22 lead before the Tigers responded with an 8-2 spurt to close to within 31-30 with 1:24 remaining in the period. But Mitchell and Teague hit jumpers to put Baylor up 35-30 at the break.

After that narrow halftime edge, the Bears needed less than two minutes to double their lead to 44-34 and went from there.

Baylor led 59-43 at the under-12 media timeout and quickly extended that cushion to 21 points, 66-45, by the midpoint of the second period. The Bears still held a 21-point cushion until the final five minutes, and the Tigers could never get closer than 12 after that.

--Field Level Media