Both sides seemed to run out of ideas as soon as they entered the attacking areas, and merely competent defending was required to keep the forwards quiet in a match that neither side deserved to win.
Saints boss Gus MacPherson won the initial tactical battle as his stubborn five-man midfield smothered Killie's ball players, allowing Jim Jefferies' men only a long punt upfield as an attacking option which Will Haining and John Potter mopped up with ease all afternoon.
But the Buddies boss still has to find an urgent solution to his goal-scoring problem, for as comfortable as his team were in defence, they were as ineffective in attack.
Billy Mehmet was employed as a lone striker, but even with the intelligent prompting of Chris Birchall, Killie keeper Alan Combe was never forced into a meaningful save.
The introduction of David Fernandez for the ineffective Ryan Jarvis allowed Jefferies' side to play more inventive football, but his side eventually ran out of time to find a winner.
The only real chance of a dull first half came from an Allan Johnston error when he lost possession 25 yards from his own goal. Hugh Murray advance into the box, but Combe saved with his legs.
MacPherson replaced Alan Reid at half-time with Stephen McGinn, and the substitute had two great chances within five minutes of the restart.
First he burst through the inside left channel to meet Stephen O'Donnell's pass but his shot flew wide. He had an even clearer chance a couple of minutes later when he was picked out by Birchall's perfect cross in space at the far post but ballooned his header over.
Jefferies turned to his experienced campaigners after 53 minutes to stem the red Paisley flow by bringing on Fernandez and Gary Locke, and almost immediately Kilmarnock looked more threatening.
They nearly scored on the hour mark, and in keeping with the match it was from a mistake. Fraser Wright powered down the left wing and drove over a cross which hit Haining's shin and span inches past his own post.
The scrappy nature of the match almost contributed to a Killie winner, as Locke's corner instigated an almighty goalmouth scramble with Colin Nish and Fernandez both denied by desperate defending before Wright headed over.
Kilmarnock's debutant full-back Tim Clancy almost fluked a winner when his cross drifted into the far corner with Chris Smith found wanting.
Substitutes Stewart Kean and Craig Bryson, making his Killie debut, both had good strikes from the edge of the area, but neither was able to break the deadlock.