OMAHA, Neb. — It never seems to be as easy as expected in the first round of the NCAA tournament. At least not for the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team.

UW coach Bo Ryan improved to 6-1 in the opening round as the third-seeded Badgers defeated 14th-seeded Cal State Fullerton 71-56 on Thursday night at the Qwest Center, but don't be fooled by Ryan's record or the final score. There have been few relaxing moments.

Last year against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, UW fell behind 10-0, then 27-19 at halftime, before rallying to win 76-63. Two years ago, the Badgers fell behind Arizona 24-8 and never really challenged in a 94-75 loss.

In 2005, they led Northern Iowa by only three points with 4 minutes to play and in 2004, they trailed Richmond by 13 points with less than 14 minutes left, before winning both games. You get the idea.

"Once we get into the tournament, seedings kind of go out the window," UW senior center Greg Stiemsma said. "You step on that floor, they don't care where you're from, who you play for or what your record is leading up to it.

"They're going to take it to you and we're going to do the same. We're not going to back down from anybody and we're not going to overlook anybody at the same time, either."

The Badgers (30-4) certainly knew what they were up against with the up-tempo Titans
(24-9), who wanted to show they could be just as physical as the big, bad bruisers from the Big Ten Conference, despite not having a starter taller than 6-foot-5.

"It got pretty physical on the perimeter," Stiemsma said. "I thought our guards did a pretty good job of handling it, just taking care of the ball and trying to stay at it."

Added UW assistant coach Greg Gard, "That's what we talked about all week, how they were going to pressure, really on our fours and fives, really come out on us."

It also didn't help UW that point guard Trevon Hughes played only 5 minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls.

Hughes also banged up his left wrist when he crashed hard to the court while converting a 3-point play early in the second half and appeared to aggravate the injury to his left ankle later.

"Trevon had to sit most of the first half with two fouls, which didn't help," Gard said. "It kind of threw a wrench in our usual rotation. We need to be better. We can be better."

Still, the Badgers got a big contribution from junior swingman Joe Krabbenhoft, who had seven of his 13 points in the first half.

"I've been doing the same things I've been trying to do all year, contribute in every part of the game and just help our team win, as does everybody on the court," Krabbenhoft said.

It wasn't until the Titans got in foul trouble in the second half and UW asserted its usual dominance at the free-throw line that the Badgers gained control. UW made 18 of 25 from the line in the game, compared to seven of 13 for Fullerton.

The Badgers' bench was also a big factor, as expected, outscoring Fullerton 19-0.

After getting ousted in the first round two years ago and stubbing their toes in round two last year as the second seed, these Badgers are intent on sticking around longer this year.

They know they'll have to play better and maybe that's a good thing, since they took care of business again while playing at less than their best.

"We have so much more room for improvement," UW junior Marcus Landry said. "We can play a lot better than we did. That's a very good sign."