A wretched first half display saw Barnsley suffer their first home defeat under Gerhard Struber and are now four points adrift of safety.
It is the first time Barnsley have suffered back to back defeats since the end of November - Struber's first two games in charge.
The Reds were 3-0 down at home at half time for the second time this season (also v Luton)
It is the first time they have conceded three first half goals at Oakwell twice in one campaign since 2013-2014 when they were 3-1 down to Watford (lost 5-1) and 3-0 down to Birmingham (lost 3-0)
It also means the Reds have conceded the most home goals in the Championship so far in 2019-2020 (29)
Preston have now inflicted Barnsley's heaviest away (5-1) and heaviest home (3-0) league defeats of the season so far.
This was Preston's first win at Oakwell since August 2009 (also 3-0) and their first league double over the Reds since 2006-2007 when they won both encounters 1-0.
Preston have scored eight goals against Barnsley this season, their most in one campaign since 1950-1951 when they won 7-0 and lost 4-1 (8)
Tom Barkhuizen and Daniel Johnson are the first players to score home and away against Barnsley this season - they swapped roles this time around as Johnson scored a brace at Deepdale whilst Barkhuizen did so at Oakwell.
It is the first time a brace has been scored by a team in both league meetings against Barnsley since Aston Villa in 2017-2018 - Albert Adomah scoring twice at Oakwell and Scott Hogan scoring twice at Villa Park.
It is the first time Barnsley have conceded eight goals against the same opponent in one season since 2013-2014 when Watford also defeated the Reds 5-1 and 3-0.
Cauley Woodrow returned from injury as a 54th minute substitute, it is only the second league game he has featured in in which he has not started since joining the club in August 2018, the last of which was on the 24th November 2018.
He also picked up a yellow card, the first Barnsley substitute to be booked in eight games.
Barnsley have now failed to win any of their last FORTY NINE Championship matches in which they have conceded the first goal, losing 39 since defeating Leeds 3-2 exactly three years ago (21st January 2017)
At any level they have failed to win any of the last 17 league matches in which they have conceded first, last doing so in the final home game of 2018-2019 against Blackpool.
They have also now failed to win any of their last 16 weekday Championship games (D8 L8), last doing so on Monday 1st January 2018 at Sunderland.
Barnsley have gone back to back league games without scoring for only the second time this season with the only other occasion being a three game drought in August/September.
The Reds have failed to score in nine of their 29 league games, four of which have come under Gerhard Struber (from 12 games)
In the last three league games Barnsley have only managed a combined seven shots on target (2,2,3)
Struber made all three allotted substitutions for only the second time, the other occasion being his first game in charge against Blackburn in November.
Callum Styles was one of the three to come on, making his first appearance since the 5th October.
Despite a humbling defeat Barnsley enjoyed 59% of possession - their most in 12 games (all comps) since enjoying 63% at Middlesbrough in November.
There were eight corners in a Barnsley game for the third time in four outings.
Only one of those were for Preston, the lowest from a Barnsley opponent this season and lowest since the final home game of 2018-2019 against Blackpool (also 1)
Barnsley have failed to win any of their last five meetings with Preston (D3 L2), their longest winless run against the Lillywhites since a run of five between 1935 and 1950 (D2 L3) - however this included two FA Cup ties, one of which was a replay.
Barnsley Team:
1. Samuel Radlinger
2. Jordan Williams
4. Kenny Dougall
6. Mads Andersen
7. Jacob Brown
11.Conor Chaplin
14. Kilian Ludewig
16. Luke Thomas
17. Marcel Ritzmaier
24. Aapo Halme
27. Alex Mowatt (c)
Substitutes:
9. Cauley Woodrow (for Dougall 54)
20. Callum Styles (for Thomas 61)
19. Patrick Schmidt (for Chaplin 75)
Unused Substitutes:
3. Ben Williams, 21. Toby Sibbick, 28. Elliot Simoes, 40. Brad Collins.
Preston Team:
1. Declan Rudd
2. Darnell Fisher
4. Ben Pearson
6. Ben Davies
8. Alan Browne (c)
10. Josh Harrop
11. Daniel Johnson
15. Joe Rafferty
21. Patrick Bauer
29. Tom Barkhuizen
31. Scott Sinclair
Substitutions:
44. Brad Potts (for Johnson 67)
24. Sean Maguire (for Sinclair 67)
35. David Nugent (for Barkhuizen 74)
Unused Substitutes:
5. Tom Clarke, 18. Ryan Ledson, 20. Jayden Stockley, 25. Connor Ripley.
Preston manager Alex Neil said:
"It was a ballsy way that we set up but we felt it was the best way to win the game. Our first real bit of quality play led to the first goal and we upped the tempo from there.
"That's seven points out of nine now. We took the goals well and we've got a clean sheet, so it's really pleasing.
"This is the best position we've been in during the three years I've been here and arguably the best position the club's been in for a decade, so what we should do is embrace it.
"If I had to single one player out tonight it would be Alan Browne - he was excellent, but it would be difficult to pick anybody out who didn't play well tonight. They were great."
Match Reports:
Sky Bet Championship results:
TUESDAY 21ST JANUARY 2020
BARNSLEY (22nd) 0-3 Preston (6th)
Barkhuizen 19
Johnson 34
Barkhuizen 45
Middlesbrough (17th) 1-1 Birmingham City (18th)
Jutkiewicz 27
Fletcher 81
WEDNESDAY 22ND JANUARY 2020
Charlton Athletic (19th) 0-0 Fulham (3rd)
Nottingham Forest (4th) 1-1 Reading (15th)
Grabban 80
Baldock 83
Barnsley lie in 22nd place in the Sky Bet Championship with 24 points from 29 games. We are 22 points outside the Play-Offs, 28 points outside the Automatic Promotion Places, 29 points outside First Place and 4 points inside the Relegation Zone.
Up to 22/1/20
Next Up:
On The Road:
FA Cup Fourth Round: Portsmouth v Barnsley, Saturday 25th January 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Thirty One: Barnsley v Sheffield Wednesday, Saturday 8th February 2020. Kick-Off: 1:30pm