Arizona State guard Jamelle McMillan moves around a screen as Mississippi Valley State defender Dwayne Harmason gives chase in the first half of the Sun Devils' 80-64 win Friday night.

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TEMPE — This is why Arizona State was so happy when James Harden decided to return for his sophomore year.

Harden had 24 points and a career-high 10 assists, and the No. 15 Sun Devils defeated Mississippi Valley State 80-64 on Friday night to win their opener for the first time in Herb Sendek's three seasons.

"There is a sense of excitement around the program right now, and obviously James has a lot to do with that," Sendek said.

Harden is ASU's top scoring threat. But he flashed playmaking skills that will make it tough for defenses to double-team him.

Time after time, Harden found multiple defenders in his way. So he fired passes to wide-open teammates.

"I guess that's how I always am," Harden said. "I'm a playmaker. I get my teammates shots. I try to create for them as much as possible. That's pretty much my game. Today, I think I did an OK job of doing that."

After ASU won the opening tip, Harden dunked off a dish from Ty Abbott and the Sun Devils, who hit seven of their first nine shots from the floor, were off and running to a 39-23 halftime lead.

The Sun Devils shot 57.8 percent from the floor, scoring 26 baskets on 24 assists.

● No. 2 UConn 81, Western Carolina 55: In Storrs, Conn., Hasheem Thabeet had 23 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and the 7-foot-3-inch junior also blocked five shots in the Huskies' season-opening win.

● No. 5 Pittsburgh 86, Farleigh Dickinson 63: In Pittsburgh, DeJuan Blair was overpowering inside with 17 points and 13 rebounds in slightly more than a half, and Pitt got a big lift from point guard Levance Fields' return from a broken foot suffered in August.

● No. 7 Texas 68, Stetson 38: In Austin, Texas, A.J. Abrams hit five-three pointers and scored 21 points for the Longhorns, who held Stetson to 26 percent shooting.

It was Abrams' 18th game with at least five three-pointers.

● No. 11 Purdue 82, Detroit 50: In West Lafayette, Ind., E'Twaun Moore scored 18 points in a reserve role, making 6 of 12 shots, including 3 of 4 three-pointers, in 23 minutes.

● No. 12 Oklahoma 83, American 54: In Norman, Okla., Blake Griffin had 24 points and a career-high 18 rebounds to lead the Sooners, who shot 53.8 percent from the field.

● No. 16 Marquette 95, Houston Baptist 64: In Milwaukee, Wesley Matthews scored a career-high 27 points as the Golden Eagles cruised in Buzz Williams' debut as coach.

● No. 19 Florida 80, Toledo 58: In Gainesville, Fla., Dan Werner scored 19 points for the Gators, and Nick Calathes added 16 points and seven assists.

● No. 20 Davidson 107, Guilford 83: In Davidson, N.C., Stephen Curry scored 29 points and set career highs with 10 assists and nine steals in a rout of the Division III Quakers.

● No. 21 Wake Forest 94, North Carolina Central 48: In Winston-Salem, N.C., star freshman Al-Farouq Aminu had 21 points and 10 rebounds in a game the Demon Deacons led by 31 points before the Eagles made their second field goal.

● No. 23 Villanova 78, Albany 60: In Villanova, Pa., Scottie Reynolds scored all 13 of his points in the second half, Corey Stokes and Dante Cunningham added 13 apiece, and the Wildcats had six players reach double figures in the win.

● Stanford 75, Yale 67: In New Haven, Conn., Lawrence Hill had 22 points and 11 rebounds to help the Cardinal win its opener.

Anthony Goods added 19 points for Stanford, including three consecutive three-pointers to build a 50-41 lead with 11:33 left.

It was the first victory for Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins, a former standout player and assistant coach at Duke. He took over the Pac-10 program when Trent Johnson went to LSU.

The Cardinal shot 52 percent, 13 of 25, from the floor in the second half.

● Howard 47, Oregon State 45: In Washington, the Beavers trailed by as many as eight but cut it to 46-45 on two free throws by Seth Tarver. But OSU's Daniel Deane was called for traveling with 10 seconds left in the game.

Howard's Eugene Myatt hit one of two free throws and Deane's runner rimmed out at the buzzer.

● Oregon 66, Northern Colorado 64: In Eugene, Ore., LeKendric Longmire scored 15 points to lead the Ducks.

Michael Dunigan, one of six Oregon freshmen, finished with 13 points.

● No. 17 Arizona State 76, Cleveland State 59: In Tempe, Sybil Dosty had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead Arizona State in the opening round of the preseason WNIT.

The 6-foot-3-inch Dosty, a product of Salpointe Catholic High School, hit 7 of 10 shots from the floor and had her way against a diminutive Vikings team that started four guards.

Cleveland State drew within 10 early in the second half, but ASU's Kate Engelbrecht — a Catalina Foothills grad — hit back-to-back three-pointers to quell the rally.

● No. 2 Stanford 68, Minnesota 55: In Stanford, Calif., Jayne Appel had 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots, and the Cardinal earned a hard-fought win.

Kayla Pedersen, last season's Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Nnemkadi Ogwumike added 11 points in an impressive collegiate debut for Stanford.

● No. 9 California 63, Albany 39: In Berkeley, Calif., Ashley Walker had 23 points, eight rebounds and four steals as Cal extended its nonconference home winning streak to 30 games.

Cal suited up only nine players in the victory.