BERKELEY – With two of college basketball's premiere players standing on opposite sides of the court and both the Cal men's basketball team and visiting Washington looking for any edge to shift momentum, it figured that a star effort might go a long way towards tilting Thursday's Pac-12 contest in one direction or the other.

With the game hanging in the balance, the Bears knew exactly who to turn to when they needed that star.

A massive second half by Ivan Rabb helped Cal take the lead late and the Bears pulled away at the end as they notched a 69-59 victory over the Huskies at Haas Pavilion.

Rabb notched his eighth double-double of the season with 20 points and 14 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end, to lead Cal (12-5, 3-2 Pac-12). Jabari Bird added 16 points while Kingsley Okoroh contributed in a variety of ways in the paint with seven points, nine rebounds and four blocks. David Crisp led Washington (8-8, 1-3) with 16 points.

After long periods of back and forth play throughout the second half, Cal forged ahead late thanks in large part to the efforts of its preseason All-America power forward. A bucket down low by Rabb with 2:22 left gave the Bears their largest lead of the second half to that point with a 65-57 advantage providing some breathing room down the stretch.

A Washington bucket drew the Huskies closer but a pair of free throws by Charlie Moore and two more by Rabb put the game on ice. Rabb finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the second half alone, the Bears limited heralded Huskies guard Markelle Fultz to 12 points on 3-of-15 shooting and Cal held Washington to its lowest scoring output of the season to finish off the win.

"It's just really settling in," Cal head coach Cuonzo Martin said. "You see in games in the second half, his numbers go up. Here's a guy that's getting double-teamed every time he touches the ball so now, if he doesn't see the double, its understanding when to get the ball. Sometimes, he gets the ball and holds it and it's one on one and that's part of it because he sees the double so much. Once he settles in and kind of figures out how they're defending him, he makes plays. If you don't double him, it's going to be a tough night for you."

A cold stretch by the Bears allowed Washington to take the lead early in the second half, and a layup by Noah Dickerson capped a 12-0 run to leave the Huskies with a 40-38 lead with just under 14 minutes to play. An elbow jumper by Moore squared the score again but Cal's freshman point guard had to head to the bench shortly thereafter with four fouls.

That narrow margin remained over the next several minutes but Cal was the team to make the next push. A putback by Rabb, turnover by the Huskies and layup in transition by Bird put the Bears up 51-45 with 7:38 to play and forced a Washington time out with the Haas Pavilion crowd starting to get louder.

Offense started to flow for both teams from that point forward with both teams starting to find the hoop more frequently. Rabb continued to find room down low, the Bears started to get to the line more and more and, by the time the final media time out came, Cal held on to a 63-57 advantage.

Cal took a 34-28 lead to halftime thanks in part to one big push late in the half. With the Bears establishing an advantage in the paint early, that edge continued to manifest itself as the half progressed. An offensive rebound by Rabb led to an open 3-pointer for Jabari Bird, and a bucket down low by Kameron Rooks capped a 13-2 run and put Cal up 26-17 with 5:28 left in the half.

Rabb and guard Charlie Moore each found themselves on the bench with two fouls apiece near the end of the half, but Cal persevered and even grew the lead for a short while. A dunk by Okoroh off a nifty pass inside from Mullins resulted in a three-point play and put Cal up 10 with two minutes left before intermission.

Washington closed that gap a bit before the teams left the floor, but Cal's 18-10 edge in the paint and 11 offensive rebounds over the first 20 minutes helped the Bears maintain the lead.

"They did a good job fronting the ball," Rabb said. "At that point, we had to reverse it and swing it to the other bigs so we could get a high-low if I'm going to get the ball. The first half, I didn't feel like I had enough energy until the end. In the second half, I tried to pick it up and give the team a little bit more and it worked out."

Thursday's game against the Huskies marks the first game in a two-game home weekend for the Bears. Cal returns to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when Washington State visits Haas Pavilion for more Pac-12 action. The contest will be televised live by Pac-12 Networks. The Bears hit the road next week for a Thursday game at Oregon and a Saturday showdown at Oregon State.