Before Friday, Arizona State senior guard Torian Graham had not played in an official organized basketball game since March 8, 2014. Any signs of rust seemed nonexistent, though.

His 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 4-of-5 from three-point range off the bench paced an impressive performance from ASU’s (1-0) backcourt that led ASU to a season-opening 88-70 win over Portland State (0-1) at Wells Fargo Arena.

Graham said it was the first time he has ever come off the bench, a role he noted he is happy with if it helps the team win. He followed head coach Bobby Hurley from Buffalo to Tempe but sat out the 2015-2016 season due to transfer rules.

“It was very exciting,” Graham said. “I felt like I was put on this earth to play basketball, so when basketball was taken away from me, I felt like part of my life was taken.”

Hurley credited Graham’s turnaround after a rough few years that perhaps made many people forget he was a former top-100 recruit in the class of 2012.

“He’s just made a lot of changes,” Hurley said. “He’s taken this very seriously, he’s using his abilities, he’s been very coachable. He knows what’s at stake. It’s nice when it clicks for a guy who puts the work in like he’s put the work in. I think that there’s more ahead from him.”

In addition to Graham’s scoring output, junior point guard Tra Holder scored 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and junior guard Shannon Evans II added 19 points as the trio combined for 65 points.

“Torian was obviously terrific today in shooting the ball and gave us a spark in the first half, which is who he has been for a while,” Hurley said. “Shannon , I think he’s going to play a lot better. He picked it up some in the second half, but he would probably agree that it wasn’t his best. I thought Tra was very good tonight too just getting into the lane. They switched a lot of things so we have to rely on our point guards at that point to break down a bigger player and he did that pretty effectively.”

ASU trailed 8-2 early, but eventually went on a 22-6 run to help it take definitive control of the game from there on out.

Hurley called ASU’s offensive performance “okay,” noting that it could have been much better without the early missed layups, 16 turnovers and five missed free throws.

He mentioned he even smiled a few times when ASU started a bit slow, displaying a lack of concern that the offense would soon arrive. If anything, he said his concerns lie more with the way his team will defend.

“I think there could be games where we hit 20 threes depending on how teams want to guard us,” he said. “If they want to get spread out, then we’ll just attack them off the dribble with Tra and Shannon and Kodi (Justice) and those guys. If they want to pack it inside and protect the paint, then we’re going to make people pay with the three.

Arizona State’s lack of frontcourt depth headlined all concerns revolving around this year’s team, but 6-foot-10 freshman forward Jethro Tshisumpa has an opportunity to ease the pain a bit. He only had a rebound and a block, but Hurley credited him for playing solid minutes.

Evans said his roommate Tshisumpa was a bit of a “headache” when he joined the team because he seemed confused and all over the place after not having played organized basketball for some time. Now, he seems to be finding himself as he settles into his role.

“It’s crazy the improvements that he’s made,” Evans said. “The sky is the limit for that kid.”

Another positive sign — granted Hurley noted the Vikings were also an undersized team —was ASU outrebounding Portland State 47-33, an effort led by Obinna Oleka’s 13 boards that went with eight points.

Highly-anticipated freshman guard Sam Cunliffe scored just three points as he ended up with four fouls.

Holder said the true freshman from Seattle, Washington, handled his shaky debut well.

“He had positive spirits and he knows that he’s going to get his time and that the next game in in two days, so I like to see that out of him,” he said.

Portland State forward Braxton Tucker led his team with 19 points, but the Vikings only had one other player in double figures.

ASU hosts Cal Poly on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.