OXFORD — No. 24 Ole Miss survived a serious scare from Grambling on Friday night at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion, claiming a 66-64 win.

Ole Miss (2-0) overcame an inefficient offensive night to beat the Tigers (1-1). The Rebels shot just 35.4 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from the 3-point line. They did have 13 assists on 23 made baskets and committed just six turnovers.

Grambling, meanwhile, shot 47 percent from both the field and the 3-point line. The Tigers committed 22 turnovers, ultimately preventing them from returning to north central Louisiana with a win over a ranked team from the Southeastern Conference.

"I'm pleased we got a win tonight," Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said, noting Grambling had seven returning players from last year's NCAA Tournament team. The Tigers lost to eventual national championship runner-up Purdue last March. "We didn't play our best but a lot of the reason we didn't play our best was a lot of the other team. I tried to explain this to the players all week to anybody who would listen.

"That was a veteran team. They had our full attention. ...That's an NCAA Tournament team and that's where we're trying to get. They have good players and a good coach. We have to play better, obviously, but there were some good things in tonight's game."

Dre Davis led Ole Miss with 13 points. He was one of four Rebels to score in double-figures. Sean Pedulla added 12, while Jaemyn Brakefield came off the bench to add 11 and JuJu Murray added 10.

Mikale Stevenson had a game-high 16 points for Grambling. Kintavious Dozier added 15 and Ernest Ross 14 for the Tigers. James Flippin added 12 points off the Grambling bench.

Grambling out-rebounded the Rebels, 39-33, beating Ole Miss on second-chance points, 11-4. Ole Miss won the game by creating offense with its defense, beating the Tigers in points off turnovers, 26-11.

"(There would be) a different mood in our locker room if we didn't," Beard said. "Every game has the game within the game. There's a way to win the game and there's a way to not win the game. Our ball security, our ability to take care of the ball, we're going to be a good 3-point shooting team. That's who we are. Tonight, the 3 wasn't our friend. Some of that was self-inflicted with some shot selection, but I thought there were a lot of 3s tonight we're going to take all day and every day.

"So what do you do on a night when 3s aren't going down? You have to do something. It wasn't out-rebounding them. It was basically taking care of the ball and turning them over."

Grambling refused to go away late. The Tigers pulled to within 58-57 on Ross’ 3-pointer with 3:39 left. However, a pair of buckets from Brakefield sandwiching a Grambling turnover pushed Ole Miss’ lead to 62-57.

Grambling pulled to within three points in the final two minutes but Murray’s free throws with 25.8 seconds left re-extended the Rebels’ lead to five points.

Dozier's layup with 19.8 seconds left pulled Grambling to within 64-61.

Matthew Murrell missed both free throws, giving Grambling a chance at a game-tying possession. The Tigers hunted an open look from the perimeter but were forced to settle for two free throws from Stevenson with 4.8 seconds remaining, cutting Ole Miss' lead to 64-63.

Murray's free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining extended Ole Miss' lead to 66-63.

Ole Miss fouled with 0.9 seconds left, putting Stevenson on the line. The Grambling guard made the first and intentionally missed the second. The Tigers committed a lane violation on the miss, allowing Ole Miss to inbound the ball and walk away with a win.

Ole Miss took the lead with 13:38 left, getting a traditional 3-point play on Pedulla’s drive to the basket to go ahead, 40-39.

Pedulla’s play came in the midst of a 20-0 run over six minutes, when the Rebels turned up the defensive intensity, forcing turnovers and missed shots that led to offense on the other end. Brakefield’s 3-pointer with 11:11 left forced a Grambling timeout as the Tigers could sense their upset bid slipping away.

Grambling led by as many as 11 in the first half and took a 33-25 lead into the halftime break.

Ole Miss’ offense in the first half was torturous. The Rebels shot just 31.4 percent from the floor and 20 percent from the 3-point line, making just three of 15 shots from behind the arc.

Davis and Malik Dia made their only 3-point attempt in the opening half. Pedulla, Brakefield, Murray, Murrell, Mikeal Brown-Jones and Davon Barnes combined to make just one of 13 attempts from deep.

Grambling, meanwhile, shot 57.1 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the 3-point in the first half.

Ole Miss plays host to South Alabama Tuesday in the second annual Throwback Game in Tad Smith Coliseum. The Rebels will honor former Ole Miss and South Alabama coach Bob Weltlich during the contest. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.