OMAHA, Neb. — Cal State Fullerton figured to be on the short end, literally, in a couple of key areas against the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday night.

Fullerton, without a starter taller than 6-foot-5, had neither the size nor the depth to match the Badgers.

UW 6-11 senior center Greg Stiemsma made sure UW kept its advantage in both areas.

Stiemsma keyed a strong effort by the Badgers' bench, scoring six points on 3-for-4 shooting in only 8 minutes. That helped UW to a dramatic 19-0 edge in bench scoring.

Junior forward Marcus Landry pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds — Stiemsma chipped in four — as the Badgers finished with a 50-27 advantage on the boards, including 18-7 on the offensive end.

While the rebounding edge sounded decisive, the Badgers didn't take full advantage, with only an 18-15 edge in second-chance points.

But Stiemsma certainly took full advantage of his minutes.

"He's been doing that all year and especially the last two months," UW junior swingman Joe Krabbenhoft said of Stiemsma. "I think it hit him that this is his senior year he wanted to step it up."

Stiemsma also had two blocks, a steal and an assist.

"We try to do the little things and it might not always be the prettiest game or we might not have the biggest numbers, but we've been winning with it, so we're going to stick to it," Stiemsma said of the play of the bench.

The Badgers also got 13 points off the bench from Jason Bohannon, who played 33 minutes because of the first-half foul trouble for point guard Trevon Hughes.

"We all know our roles at this point of the season," Stiemsma said. "We're just going to take advantage of the minutes we have, no matter where and when they come. Whenever our number is called, we've got to be ready at all times and contribute in any way we can."

No help for Akognon

UW junior guard Michael Flowers thought he had a pretty good handle going into the game regarding his defensive assignment against Fullerton guard Josh Akognon.

But in this case, the tapes Flowers watched didn't do justice to the real thing, as
Akognon scored 31 points on 11-for-23 shooting.

"He was actually much better," Flowers said. "Everything we threw at him, force him to the hole, trying to get charges on him, he was able to slide by and use his agility and get to the free-throw line.

"His shooting off the dribble was incredible, his release in real life was quicker than it was on film. A credit to him. He really did put his team on his back."

Unfortunately for the high-scoring Titans, Akognon didn't get much help.

Guard Frank Robinson, who came in averaging 16 points per game, fouled out after scoring 11 and forward Scott Cutley was held to nine, about five below his average (14.8).

"We knew he could shoot from anywhere," Landry said. "As you saw, he was shooting from beyond NBA range. (We) just tried to make his looks very tough. He obviously got his shots off. We did a good job on everybody else. One man can't do it all."

Kansas State impresses

On Wednesday, Southern Cal coach Tim Floyd questioned how a team as good as Kansas State could be an 11th seed.

He also hinted he was less than thrilled that the Wildcats got to play so close to home, just 194 miles — about a 3-hour drive — from their campus in Manhattan, Kan.

Now, those two facts are UW's problem after the Wildcats dispatched Floyd's sixth-seeded Trojans 80-67 in their Midwest Regional first-round game earlier Thursday.

Since Kansas and Kansas State fans figure to buy up many of the leftover tickets from fans of teams that lost in the first round, the Badgers could find themselves in hostile territory Saturday, even with their own well-traveling fan base.

"We're close to home. A lot of fans made the drive out here," said Michael Beasley, Kansas State's star freshman who had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Wildcats.

"It just made it feel like a home game. They were all chanting our name. It just felt good to know we have people behind (us)."