It took just a few minutes for Cal to realize the type of team it was facing Friday night at Haas Pavilion. Fourth-ranked Arizona opened the game on a 24-5 run immediately putting pressure on the Bears and the call was never answered.

Ultimately, the Bears (4-8, 0-1 Pac-12) never led at any point as the Wildcats ran away with the 100-81 victory to open up Pac-12 play for both teams. While the Arizona offense will receive the headlines, its defense made life difficult for Mark Madsen's team.

The Bears shot just under 27% in the first half and spent most of the opening 20 minutes at around 14% from the field. They missed their first 10 3-pointers before big man Fardaws Aimaq broke the ice late in the first half.

The 6-foot-11 forward had his hands full with Arizona big men Oumar Balllo and Motiejus Krivas, who combined for 35 points and 16 rebounds as the Wildcats controlled the interior throughout the night.

Cal lost the battle in the paint, 54-34, and was outdone in the rebounding category, 45-34.

Eventually, it led to a 31-point deficit late in the first half that proved insurmountable for Cal.

The Bears were able to put together a stronger offensive showing in the second half as the team displayed improved aggressiveness and an ability to get to the basket with more regularity.

That was led by standout wing Jaylon Tyson who scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half guiding the Bears to 55 points over the final 20 minutes. Tyson's ability to attack the Arizona defense allowed him to remain efficient (7 of 9 from the field in the second half) to help Cal climb back into the matchup.

Behind Tyson's effort, plus 12 points in the second half from Jalen Celestine, the Bears were able to trim the lead down 19 late in the game but that is as close as they would get.

"Arizona got out to a really phenomenal start in the game," Madsen told reporters in his postgame press conference. "Our defense was not good enough. They made shots, they ran it down our throat and they established a dominant post presence inside.

"With that, our guys battled back in the second half. We fought, we scrapped, we had tenacity. I was proud of how the guys responded in the second half. We put two halves together like that, we're gonna be the team that we want to become."

Tyson tied a game high in scoring and led the Bears with 10 rebounds despite playing 26 minutes after a couple early fouls kept him on the bench to start the game Friday.

Aimaq finished with 10 points to go with 6 rebounds in 21 minutes on a short night after he fouled out with 12:47 to play. Fellow Cal big man Gus Larson also fouled out with close to 10 minutes to play forcing the Bears to utilize a smaller lineup.

ND Okafor was again inactive for Madsen's team shortening the bench and available frontcourt players Friday night.

In addition to the challenges around the basket, Cal had continued problems defending on the perimeter as well. The Wildcats (10-2, 1-0 Pac-12) only connected on six 3-pointers in the game but were red hot, especially early, from other spots on the floor as well.

The Bears had problems containing Arizona leading scorer Caleb Love and the North Carolina transfer guard finished the night tied with Tyson with a game-high 22 points.

In addition to Tyson, Aimaq and Celestine, who earned the start Friday and finished with 14 points, Grant Newell also scored in double figures for the Bears as he ended his night with 11 points.

Devin Askew played 27 minutes off the bench and led the team with 5 assists to go along with 5 points.

Cal will now turn its attention to Arizona State (7-5, 1-0 Pac-12) with the Bears set to host the Sun Devils Sunday at 5 p.m. to close out the first week of conference play.

Video provided courtesy of Cal Athletics