OXFORD — Ole Miss used suffocating defense and some clutch offense to send fans home happy from Friday’s Throwback Game at Tad Smith Coliseum.

Jaylen Murray’s 3-pointer with 1:02 gave the Rebels a lead. Jaemyn Brakefield’s free throw with 9.2 seconds left provided the final margin as Ole Miss held on for a 70-67 win over Sam Houston State.

Ole Miss improved to 4-0 under first-year coach Chris Beard. Sam Houston State fell to 1-3.

It was Ole Miss’ first game in Tad Smith Coliseum since December 2015, when the Rebels held off Troy.

A week-plus later, the Rebels opened The Pavilion at Ole Miss, and the Tad Pad was relegated to serving as an office, a place for cheerleaders and the Rebelettes to practice and a walking track for locals.

It was Beard’s idea to embrace the program’s former home and Ole Miss has said it plans to host a game per season in the arena, one built in the 1960s.

On Friday, Ole Miss honored former coach Rob Evans, who led the Rebels from 1992 to 1998, twice taking the program to the NCAA Tournament. Evans was recognized in pregame ceremonies and then honored at mid-court, along with many of his former Ole Miss players, at halftime.

“This will be a night I’ll never forget,” Beard said. “To me this was an unbelievable night where we all saw what a home-court advantage can do in Oxford, Mississippi. The crowd willed us to this game in a lot of ways.”

Ole Miss built a five-point lead midway through the second half, disrupting the Bearkats with defensive pressure. However, Sam Houston State fought back, tying the game with 9:09 and setting up a final stanza that went back and forth to the final minutes.

Sam Houston State led by as many as five points late, taking a 63-58 lead on Lamar Wilkerson’s with 4:14 left.

Four free throws from Flanigan, followed by one from TJ Caldwell, tied the score at 63-63 with 2:53 left. A conventional 3-point play by Brakefield gave Ole Miss a 66-63 lead with 2:09 remaining.

The Bearkats didn’t go away. Instead, Barnes made a pair of free throws and then Sam Houston forced a turnover with led to Damon Nicholas Jr.’s layup with 1:23 left, giving the visitors a 67-66 lead.

Murray’s 3-pointer gave Ole Miss the lead for good but it was defense and hustle that allowed the Rebels to hold on. The Rebels forced a missed 3-pointer from Davon Barnes with 38.7 seconds remaining. The Rebels’ ensuing possession ended with a missed 3-pointer by Brakefield, but Flanigan beat Nicholas to the rebound and earned a trip to the free throw line.

“I was proud of our poise down the stretch,” Beard said. “On a night when a lot of teams would’ve folded, I thought we actually played our best basketball late in the game. That’s a promising thing.

“We just talked about, ‘Let’s just be the most aggressive team.’ …I thought we did that. I’m proud of the guys tonight. When it came to crunch time, we didn’t back away. I thought we threw our biggest punches late in the game.”

“I think these games are very important,” Flanigan said. “Being in tough battles early and us learning how to gel together and figure things out on the court and get the job done in close games is big. To go through that early is positive.”

Flanigan led Ole Miss with 23 points and seven rebounds. Matthew Murrell added 15 points and six rebounds.

Barnes led Sam Houston State with 22 points. Jaden Ray added 15 points and five assists.

Ole Miss out-rebounded Sam Houston State, 35-31, and won the points in the paint, 32-22. Ole Miss won despite shooting just 16.7 percent (3-for-18) from the 3-point line in large part because the Rebels were dominant in getting to the free throw line. Ole Miss made 27 of its 34 free throw attempts while Sam Houston State was 9-for-14 from the line. That 18-point swing, Beard said, was “obviously the difference in the game.”

Ole Miss led by as many as 11 points in the first half but trailed Sam Houston, 33-31, at the break, in large part because of the Bearkats’ 50 percent (7-for-14) from behind the 3-point line.

Ole Miss plays at Temple Wednesday before returning home Nov. 28 to face North Carolina State.

Evans moved by Friday’s ceremony: Evans said Friday was a “tremendously special night for me and my family.”

The former Ole Miss and Arizona State coach had high praise for Beard’s effort to make Friday happen and for it to be as special as it was, saying it was the highest honor of his career.

“He’s a tremendous basketball coach and this program will do nothing but get better,” Evans said. “The toughest team won tonight. The best-coached team won tonight.”