BERKELEY - Finally given a chance to get back to business in a competitive setting, the Cal men's basketball team didn't wait long to feed the excitement for a long 2015-16 season to come as a big first half run put the No. 14-ranked Bears in control and they cruised to a 97-65 victory over Rice on opening night at Haas Pavilion.

Tyrone Wallace led five Cal players in double figures with 20 points while also dishing out eight assists and grabbing six rebounds in the first game of his senior season. Freshman Ivan Rabb collected a double-double in his first collegiate game with 14 points and 13 rebounds while fellow frosh Jaylen Brown chipped in with 14 points of his own. Egor Koulechov led Rice (0-1) with 19 points.

The first 20 minutes of the new year served as a reminder that Cal basketball is at its best when it plays as the sum of some very talented parts. 10 players saw court time in the first half alone, and the Bears took a 47-31 lead to the locker room after showing several flashes of brilliance along the way.

One of the longest sustained periods of good play came in the early stages of the game. Cal tightened the screws on defense and that paid dividends on the other end as the Bears launched a 16-2 run that left them up 27-11 with 9:05 left in the half.

Wallace provided one of the highlights, driving right, drawing the foul, banking a right-handed layup in and making the free throw to make it 25-11. Jordan Mathews followed with a layup of his own and, with Rice mired in a scoreless streak that reached almost seven minutes, Cal took control much to the delight of a blue and gold-clad crowd.

Along the way, Cal fans got their first look at several of the team's new additions in their first real game and there was plenty to be impressed with. Rabb did a little bit of everything in a short amount of time, compiling a stat line of eight points, eight rebounds (five offensive) and two blocks in his first seven collegiate minutes and finished with a team-high seven offensive boards. Redshirt junior transfer Stephen Domingo also made a good first impression with five points and seven rebounds of his own.

By the time the first media time out of the second half rolled around, Cal owned a commanding 63-37 lead. A layup by Wallace capped an 11-0 run heading into the stoppage and Rice went to the bench having not scored in nearly three minutes. Sam Singer claimed his first points with a deep 3, pushed the run to 15-3 and became the ninth of 11 different Bears to score in the contest.

“I thought it was a really good team performance," Cal head coach Cuonzo Martin said. "I thought the team did a really good job sharing the ball, making baskets and attacking off the dribble then making plays, finding the big guys when the opportunities showed themselves. I thought the spacing was solid, and Tyrone and Sam did a good job attacking, creating opportunities for our perimeter guys to make shots. Thought our big guys did a great job of protecting the lane, being big when they have the opportunities. A solid team effort on both ends of the floor.”

Two tenets of good basketball prized by any coach went Cal's way on Friday as the Bears held Rice to just 37 percent shooting from the floor, blocked seven shots as a team and made those defensive stops hold up thanks to a 48-30 rebounding edge. Cal also took care of the basketball, turning it over just seven times en route to the victory.

“I feel the chemistry," Rabb said. "I think if we continue to stop like that, it's going to make our offense more potent and get better transitions. With the size and length that we have, all the different tools, there's no reason why we can't be one of the best defensive teams in the country.”

Friday's game was just the first in a four-game homestand to begin the season for the Bears. They return to Haas Pavilion on Monday at 7 p.m. to host UC Santa Barbara before welcoming East Carolina and Sam Houston State to Berkeley on Nov. 20 and 23 as part of the Las Vegas Invitational.