BERKELEY – When it comes to winning with defense, there aren't too many teams that have a formula as consistent as the Cal men's basketball team.

Stanford found that out the hard way Sunday at Haas Pavilion.

After heading into halftime tied, the Bears took control against their Bay Area rivals right out of the break, stifling the Cardinal for the first 10 minutes of the half to build a double-digit lead and send Cal to a 66-55 victory in front of a capacity crowd.

Ivan Rabb notched his 10^th double-double of the season, finishing with 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead Cal (15-6, 6-3 Pac-12). Jabari Bird added 17 points while Charlie Moore helped set the table with a career-high eight assists. Reid Travis led Stanford (11-10, 3-6) with 17 points.

After a first half in which Cal forced 10 Stanford turnovers, the Bears continued the defensive mindset right out of intermission to gain separation on the scoreboard. With Stanford going 4 for its first 14 from the floor in the second half, Cal managed to turn a 25-all tie into a 41-30 advantage.

And, the biggest cheers from a hungry Cal crowd were reserved for the defense. A Stanford airball taken under heavy defensive duress brought the teams to the under-12 media time out while simultaneously inciting a hearty round of jeers from those in attendance.

While Cal continued its defensive intensity, the Bears also began to find their stride on the other end of the floor. Rabb and Bird carried the offensive load, scoring 17 of Cal's first 22 second-half points. Though Stanford managed to cut the Cal lead to single digits, the Bears got into the double-bonus with nearly six minutes left to play and that, combined with several periods of extremely successful full-court pressure, helped keep the momentum in Cal's corner throughout the rest of the game.

"That's how we have success. We have to take care of the basketball offensively and we have to defend," head coach Cuonzo Martin said. "We have to corral guys into Ivan, King (Okoroh) and Kam (Rooks) and our guards have to do a solid job. In league, we've done a poor job defending the 3-point line. This is probably one of our better jobs defending the 3-point line. We have to have success with our defense and getting in the passing lanes. Sam Singer, Jabari Bird and even Charlie with his quickness, he doesn't necessarily have the size, but those guys should do a better job in the passing lanes and I thought they did that tonight."

The final numbers told the tale of Cal's ability to shut down its rival. Stanford shot just 39 percent from the floor and committed 15 turnovers, leading to 19 points off turnovers for the Bears . Cal also won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Cardinal 35-28.

A sloppy first few minutes kept the score close throughout the early stages of the game, but eventually it was Stanford that capitalized as Cal went 1 for its first 8 from the floor with five turnovers to give the Cardinal a chance to take an 11-5 lead by the under-12 media time out.

By the final media time out of the half, the Bears had climbed back into a tie, thanks mostly to a defensive effort that, by that point, already produced nine Stanford turnovers. A thunderous dunk by Bird put the Bears up 25-20 and brought the Cal faithful to a crescendo with 1:50 left in the half but the Cardinal scored the final two buckets of the first half and a step-back 3-pointer by Michael Humphrey left the two teams tied at 25 at intermission.

"They kind of hit us in the mouth early on but we just missed good shots. That's it," Bird said. "We kept feeding it down low, Ivan finally got going, I got going. It wasn't anything too difficult. We just had to start making shots."

Sunday's meeting with the Cardinal kicked off a three-game homestand for the Bears, who welcome Utah to Haas Pavilion at 6 p.m. on Thursday in a game that will be televised by Pac-12 Networks. The stretch of home games concludes on Sunday, Feb. 5 when Colorado visits for a 1:30 p.m. tip. That game will be broadcast by ESPNU.