BERKELEY – The Cal men's basketball team could not defend its home winning streak Wednesday night because of the job the Virginia Cavaliers did defending them.

The 12^th-ranked Cavaliers, who entered the night leading the nation in scoring defense and ranked second in field goal percentage defense, out-defended the Golden Bears in a 56-52 victory in front of 11,092 at Haas Pavilion.

Cal, which also ranks in the top-10 nationally in field goal percentage defense, almost matched Virginia's stinginess. But the Cavaliers made just a few more defensive plays to dash the Bears' hopes of the upset in Berkeley.

"That was two of the better defensive teams in college basketball going at it tonight," Cal coach Cuonzo Martin said. "Neither team shot great, but that was to be expected in my opinion. I thought we had some opportunities but didn't make shots."

The Bears actually surpassed Virginia's NCAA-leading average of points allowed per game (46.7) but committed 13 turnovers, including a handful of crucial miscues in the second half. The Cavaliers scored 14 points off Cal turnovers. Both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field.

"Our guys competed," Martin said. "We came in expecting to win and we came up short. We just have to make shots. Our defense is good and will continue to get better."

Points were at a premium from the outset, and the teams went into halftime tied at 22-22. Freshman Charlie Moore scored five quick points to begin the second half and the Bears established their biggest advantage of the game at 29-23. But Virginia then went  on a 17-2 run to take a 40-31 lead with 12:31 remaining.

Following a Cal timeout, the Bears went on a run of their own, scoring 10 unanswered points to regain the advantage at 41-40 with 9:45 to play. It was back and forth from there, and Virginia's London Perrantes' jumper with 1:55 left gave the Cavaliers a 49-46 lead only to see Cal's Sam Singer convert an and-one on the following possession to tie it up.

Virginia scored the next five points to take control. Senior Jabari Bird's 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining cut the deficit to 54-52, but the Cavaliers nailed their free throws in the waning moments to seal the win.

"It was a back and forth game between two good teams," said Bird, who led the Bears with 15 points. "It gives us something to look at. We're not a perfect team, but we're getting there. I think that we haven't peaked yet – I don't think we've shown our full capabilities and I think that's a good thing because we can only get better."

The loss snapped Cal's school-record 27-game home winning streak.

Senior Sam Singer had a solid all-around floor game with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals while sophomore Ivan Rabb had nine points and 12 rebounds.

"Honestly, we definitely felt like we could have beat them," Rabb said. "It doesn't matter about the ranking. Just like every other game, there are things we can take from it – positive and negative."

The Bears return to action for the beginning of Pac-12 Conference play on Dec. 30 against Arizona at Haas Pavilion. The game tips off at 8 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.