BERKELEY – A second-half rally by No. 18-ranked Arizona left the Cal men's basketball team to chase the visiting Wildcats as the game wound down and the Bears couldn't quite close the gap as they dropped a 67-62 decision in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.

Ivan Rabb notched his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to lead Cal (9-4, 0-1 Pac-12). Jabari Bird added 16 points and seven rebounds while Charlie Moore chipped in with 12 points. Dusan Ristic led Arizona (12-2, 1-0) with 16 points.

Arizona claimed its first lead since the early stages of the game with a run coming out of halftime, taking advantage of a brief stretch of Cal foul trouble to build an edge. After Rabb picked up his third foul and headed to the bench with 15:09 left to play, the Wildcats launched a 10-2 run on their way to a 41-36 lead. Rabb returned in short order and stopped the run himself, making a turnaround fadeaway that carried a high degree of difficulty with it to leave the Bears down three with 13 minutes to play.

A minute and a half later, Cal re-claimed the lead on a lefty push shot by Rabb and the Bears and Wildcats dueled in back-and-forth fashion for the next several minutes. Arizona maintained a slim advantage over much of the stretch though and, by the time the under-eight media time out arrived, the Wildcats owned a 54-48 lead.

Cal fought to stay within range over the next few minutes but a 3-pointer by Lauri Markkanen pushed Arizona's lead to 59-50 with 4:40 left. A pair of Moore free throws with 2:53 left cut the deficit to 59-55, but a layup at the other end by Rawle Alkins, a Cal turnover and a free throw by Alkins put Arizona back up 62-55 with 2:07 to play.  

A stretch of over six minutes without a field goal that lasted into the final minute of the game left Cal with too much ground to make up in the final seconds, and even after a 3-pointer by Bird made it 66-62 with 17 seconds left, the Bears could get no closer.

"They were aggressive, they made plays and we just weren't aggressive on defense," Bird said. "They got comfortable and got into a flow and we just didn't have an answer for it."

One significant run from each side provided a flurry of offense midway through the first half, but the difference in those runs ended up as Cal's lead at the break as the Bears took a 32-26 advantage to the locker room.

Cal made its move early, and after trailing 6-4 just inside the first media time out, the Bears launched a 15-0 run to take control. Midway through that stretch, a block by Kingsley Okoroh set the table for one of the night's highlights as the Bears got out in transition and a pass by Moore gave Bird a chance to show his aerial ability as he reached high above the rim to haul it in and slam home a crowd-pleasing dunk.

But, even though Arizona found itself mired in a 1 for 10 slump from the floor during Cal's run, the Wildcats still had a run of their own in mind as a layup by Ristic capped a 9-0 spurt and left the Bears up 19-15 with 7:14 left in the half. Cal built that lead back to 10 at one point but another layup by Ristic provided the half's final points and sent both teams to the break with only six points of separation.

"Good win by Arizona. They fought hard and turned it up in the second half," Cal head coach Cuonzo Martin said. "I thought we did some good things in the first half. I thought that when Ivan got in foul trouble, it kind of changed the momentum for us in the second half. (We've) got to keep plugging away."

Friday's game marks the start of the Pac-12 season for the Bears, who return to Pete Newell Court on Sunday at 7 p.m. for a New Year's Day matchup with Arizona State. Cal embarks on its annual Southern California swing next week, with a Thursday game at No. 2 UCLA and Sunday bringing a 7 p.m. tip at No. 22 USC. The Bears return to Haas Pavilion on Jan. 12 and 14 to host the Washington schools.