By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- Richard Midgley scored 25 points to lead California's further depleted lineup past Hampton 69-46 in the first round of the Golden Bear Classic on Wednesday night.
Former walk-on Martin Smith added career highs of 10 points and eight assists for the Golden Bears (6-3), who returned to action after an 11-day break for final exams.
Cal advances to Thursday's title game against Pepperdine, a 91-82 winner over Arkansas State in Wednesday's opener.
Hampton (3-7), which will face Arkansas State in the consolation game, was led by Devin Green with 15 and Brandon Streeter with 10 points and six rebounds. But the Pirates were held to 32.1 percent shooting and committed two second-half technicals and an intentional foul.
Midgley converted all but three of his 12 free throws and went 7-for-11 from the floor as Cal shot 57.5 percent. Rod Benson and Dominic McGuire also scored 10 for the Bears.
The Bears have won in the first round of this event in all 12 years of the tournament's existence, winning the title seven times and most recently in 2002 over Louisiana-Lafayette.
Green made two 3-pointers during a 10-2 Hampton run to start the second half and pull the Pirates within 36-33 with 15:03 left. But Midgley scored eight straight points as the Bears answered with a 19-5 run of their own that made it 55-38.
Cal forward Marquise Kately served a one-game suspension for failure to meet a team responsibility. He will play Thursday.
Without Kately, the Bears only suited seven scholarship players because of injuries. Starters Ayinde Ubaka and Leon Powe are sidelined with injuries. Powe will likely miss the entire season as he recovers from reconstructive knee surgery, while Ubaka is expected back from a broken foot in mid-January.
The Bears shot 52.4 percent in the first half and had just five fouls on the way to a 34-23 lead at the break. After trailing 16-5, Cal went on a 29-7 run to close out the half.
