OXFORD, Miss. — On an afternoon when offense came at a premium, Ole Miss found just enough.

The 23rd-ranked Rebels shot just 41.2 percent from the floor but they rode stout defense and scrappy play on the boards to a 63-51 win over Georgia in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Ole Miss’ veterans, Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield, scored 15 points each to lead the Rebels. Dre Davis added nine points and three Rebels — Malik Dia, Sean Pedulla and Davon Barnes — had seven each. Murrell and Brakefield combined for 10 rebounds and four assists as well. Dia added a team-high seven rebounds.

“The story of Matt and Brake around here has been well-written,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. “They came back here to do one thing — to leave a legacy and to win. I thought today you saw that out there. I don’t even need to look at the stat sheet. I know that Matt and Brake, their hearts were in the right place today. They made winning plays. …They just kind of had that look in their eye today that we’re not losing at home.”

Asa Newell, a likely NBA lottery pick this summer, led Georgia with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

“A couple of the plays were just plays Asa’s going to make,” Beard said. “That’s why he’s got the future he has. I thought we were focused on him. We made a couple of mistakes, lunged a couple of times, but some of those plays are just plays he’s going to make.”

Ole Miss improved to 12-2 overall and 1-0 in the SEC. Georgia, meanwhile, fell to 12-2 overall and 0-1 in league play.

A week after seemingly being out-hustled during most of a 17-point loss at Memphis, the opposite rang true Saturday. The Rebels swarmed on defense, crashed the glass on both ends and generally gave Georgia fits on every possession.

“We fought,” Beard said. “The first half against Memphis, we didn’t play our best but it was a two-point game. And then we got out-fought in the second half. Today, it was the same type thing. It was typical of the first conference game — a lot of nerves, both teams really want to win, both teams have had good non-conferences.

“But I thought in the second half we fought. We fought. We competed. …I thought we were the tougher team in the second half, no disrespect to Georgia, but I thought we were the tougher team in the last 20 minutes.”

The Rebels overcame a size disadvantage and out-rebounded Georgia, 35-34 and limited the points in the paint damage to 24-16 in favor of the Bulldogs. The Rebels committed 13 turnovers but forced 15.

Ole Miss blocked 10 shots and recorded 10 steals. They also moved the basketball better than their Georgia counterparts, getting 11 assists on 21 made baskets.

“This was Ole Miss defense at its best,” Beard said.

“We really focused as a group,” Brakefield said, adding that the team came together this week in a meeting that “wasn’t sugarcoated” and discussed what went wrong at Memphis. “When it came down to preparation, we were prepared. Obviously, the SEC is games like that for the whole season. Getting back together and gathering as a group and realizing what the end-goal is, that’s what the whole week was about.”

Georgia’s offense wilted under Ole Miss’ pressure. The Bulldogs shot just 29 percent from the floor, 11 percent (2-for-18) from the 3-point line and had just five assists on 17 field goals.

Georgia made just one of its last seven shots from the floor, killing any chance at late drama.

“I thought tonight we did what we said we were going to do,” Beard said. “Was it perfect? No. But the second half was pretty clean basketball. We beat them by 14 points in the second half, scored 37 and we were holding the ball late. There were lots of good things in that second half. On the top of that list is we competed and fought. …We played really hard as a team and we played some great defense tonight. No denying that.”

Ole Miss trailed by two at the half but opened the second half with a flurry, building a 14-point lead.

Georgia pulled within two points before the Rebels regained control, getting a layup from Barnes and a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock from Brakefield to push their advantage back to seven points with five minutes left.

Ole Miss dominated from there, pushing its lead back to 14 points in the final minute.

“I thought in the second half we really calmed down and played one of our best 20-minute periods against a really good team,” Beard said. “Tonight was all about our defense.”

“We just wanted to win at the end of the day,” Brakefield said.

Ole Miss hits the road for the first time in league play Wednesday at Arkansas. Tipoff at Bud Walton Arena is set for 6 p.m. The Razorbacks lost their league opener Saturday at Tennessee and fell to 11-3 overall.

Notes:

No start for Murray: Beard said veteran guard JuJu Murray didn’t start Saturday due to a “team decision.” Murray scored three points on 1-for-7 shooting in 22 minutes.

Klafke impresses again: It didn’t really show on the stat sheet — one steal — but freshman guard Eduardo Klafke was a plus-5 in six minutes Saturday.

“He’s a big part of what we’re doing,” Beard said. “He’s in the rotation on a top-25 team as a freshman. …I have a lot of confidence in Klafke. I think he’s going to be a special player this season."