Auburn came up with too little, too late.

After falling behind by 17 against Rutgers — the Tigers’ first major-conference opponent of the year — on Saturday in Pittsburgh, Auburn pulled together a 16-6 run to cut the Scarlet Knights’ lead to 7 with 1:34 to go.

The Tigers couldn’t muster much more down the stretch, falling 63-54, but coach Tony Barbee still saw some encouraging signs.

“I liked what I saw out of our defense in holding Rutgers to 33 percent shooting and 63 points. They had some explosive offensive players, and we did a good job on them,” Barbee said. “What wasn’t good was the fact on how we gave up 17 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points. That was the game right there.”

South Florida (5-5), which the Tigers (3-5) travel to play in Tampa, Fla., tonight at 8, outrebounds its opponents by an average of 4.7 rebounds per game, right about on par with Auburn’s plus-5.0 rebounding margin.

The Bulls have suffered close losses to No. 16 BYU — in double overtime — and UCF, who is receiving votes in the AP.

“They are a good team and obviously the main concern when you look at South Florida and prepare for them is their size,” Barbee said. “They have tremendous size and depth across the frontline with five guys 6-9 or better.”

That’s an especially risky proposition when Barbee scans the Rutgers stat sheet and sees his Tigers were outrebounded 46-33.

“It is scary when you think about how we struggled on the backboard in the last game vs. Rutgers,” Barbee said. “When you see South Florida, you think about their size, and we are going to have to play tougher on the interior than our last game.”

Still, Barbee and the Tigers can take some moral victories into their first true road game of the season.

Kenny Gabriel broke out of his recent malaise and scored a game-high 18 points against Rutgers — after averaging 4.3 points per game over his previous six — and Earnest Ross notched his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

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Auburn’s Rob Chubb, right, dives for a loose ball during the Tigers’ loss to Rutgers in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Saturday.

Auburn (3-5) at South Florida (5-5)
Where: Sun Dome; Tampa, Fla.
When: 8:00 p.m.
Radio/TV: WKKR (97.7 FM)/ESPNU
Projected starters, Auburn: F Rob Chubb, 6-10, So. (8.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.8 bpg); G Josh Langford, 6-7, Fr. (4.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.5 bpg); G Andre Malone, 6-5, So. (13.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.9 apg); G Tony Neysmith, 6-5, Jr. (2.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 apg); G Earnest Ross, 6-5, Jr. (11.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.5 apg)
Projected Starters, South Florida: F Ron Anderson Jr., 6-8, Jr. (9.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.0 apg); F Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, 6-8, So. (4.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.6 apg); G Jawanza Poland, 6-4, So. (10.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.1 apg); G Anthony Crater, 6-1, Jr. (3.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.7 apg); G Hugh Robertson, 6-6, Jr. (6.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.0 apg)