ASU sophomore guard James Harden only played 25 minutes in Thursday’s home 81-60 win over Jackson State, but it was plenty.

He scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out with 4:10 remaining in the game.

It seemed Harden was always doing one of two things: Either shaking a defender in the lane or stroking a jumper from 3-point range. Harden went 4 of 5 from 3-point land.

“I’m starting to get back into a groove,” Harden said. “It’s just [me] being in attack mode, being more aggressive.”

When ASU coach Herb Sendek sent Harden to the bench after he picked up his fourth foul with 15:31 left in the game, the Sun Devils held a 52-39 advantage.

By the time he returned at the 5:43 mark, ASU had stretched its lead out to 70-49.

“That was a real silver lining tonight,” Sendek said. “It was a positive that we responded the way we did, but our guys still know that we are better with James.”

Usually, Jeff Pendergraph is the one getting in foul trouble, but the senior forward didn’t pick up a single foul Thursday. After the game, he even checked the box score to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“That’s a gold star for me,” he said.

Pendergraph added 19 points, four rebounds and four blocks.

Another troubling trend resurfaced, however: the Sun Devils’ inability to get off to a hot start.

“We started off kind of slow,” Pendergraph said. “It seems like were trying to get a feel of how the other team is going to play us, when we just need to take it to them, determine the pace of the game.”

ASU let the Tigers hang around for the first 10 minutes of the game; then the Sun Devil defense took over.

JSU was held scoreless for a four-minute span in the first period, allowing ASU to go on a game-changing 14-0 run.

Harden made a point-blank bucket with 5:58 left in the half to give the Sun Devils a 31-14 lead to cap off the run.

The Sun Devils also received a boost from sophomore forward Rihards Kuksiks, who nailed five 3-pointers. Kuksiks finished with 16 points.

“That’s what I do, you know,” Kuksiks said. “I just shoot it.”

Up next for ASU is a Sunday matchup against Nebraska at Wells Fargo Arena on the Tempe campus.

The Sun Devils suffered an embarrassing 62-47 loss in Lincoln, Neb. last season and are looking to return the favor.

“They killed us last year at their house,” Harden said. “We’ve got a little chip on our shoulder. We’ve got a home game and we’re just looking to get revenge.”

Reach the reporter at alex.espinoza@asu.edu.