The Iron looked promising in the opening period, with midfielder Josh Wright looking particularly effective.
For all the control of the ball, however, the front pairing of Jonathan Forte and Chris Dagnall failed to create any clear opportunities.
The visitors did not look dangerous either, with Rob Jones impressing most in the centre of the home defence.
Martyn Woolford brought a routine save out of Luke Steele, the Tykes keeper, and Barnsley had enjoyed more of the pressure when, on the half hour mark, the Iron sprung a quick counter-attack.
Forte raced away down the left and beat Steele with his shot, but saw it bounce off the inside of a post and back out into play.
Woolford fired over early in the second-half, with Bobby Grant coming on to replace Michael Collins just quarter of an hour after the restart.
Grant looked creative, but again once the ball reached Forte or Dagnall they struggled to fashion a shooting chance.
Forte had two chances in the second-half. First he shot wide when knocked off balance by a defender, his second was palmed away by Steele - but the shot was at a height he would not expect to be beaten at.
The Iron did have the ball in the back of the net once, but the whistle had already blown to tell Woolford he was offside when he turned the ball home.
The left-back Eddie Nolan went closest for the Iron, shooting just over the bar in the closing stages. It was a marker of how much the attacking players had struggled that it was one of the best chances of the night.