Chris Denson and Frankie Sullivan each scored a game-high 12 points as Auburn matched its best start in seven seasons with a 52-40 victory over visiting South Florida on Wednesday.

Kenny Gabriel, Auburn's second-leading scorer, finished with seven points and eight rebounds as the Tigers (5-1) pulled away late in the second half to improve to 5-0 at home.

Auburn led 21-20 at halftime, but opened the second half with a 10-4 run. The Tigers extended the lead to 45-32 with 6:51 left on Denson’s jumper.

The Bulls (6-5) couldn’t pull any closer than 10 the rest of the way.

The Tigers, who have yet to allow an opponent to score more than 62 points this season, improved to 8-9 all-time against Big East schools, including 5-1 against South Florida.

Auburn's previous victory against a Big East opponent came in 2002, an 82-70 win over Rutgers.

Senior Augustus Gilchrist had a team-high 10 points - all in the first half - and five rebounds for the Bulls, who lost despite holding their fifth straight opponent to less than 30 first-half points.

Blake Nash added eight off the bench for South Florida, which was held to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and was 8-for-16 from the free throw line.