OMAHA, Neb. — For a guy who had more fouls (three) than points (two), a guy who made just one stinking shot from the floor, Joe Krabbenhoft had an absolute blast Saturday afternoon.

"I shot like crap, and I don't even care," the University of Wisconsin junior said following the Badgers' 72-55 NCAA men's basketball tournament second-round victory over Kansas State at the Qwest Center. "That was awesome. That was so much fun."

So what made the day so enjoyable for Krabbenhoft, who missed four of five shots on the offensive end and failed to pull down an offensive board for only the fifth time all season?

He, junior Marcus Landry and senior Greg Stiemsma rendered Kansas State fantastic freshman Michael Beasley a non-factor in the second half, when the likely No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft scored just six of his 23 points.

"We knew he was the best player in college basketball," said Krabbenhoft, who along with Landry and Stiemsma made it difficult for Beasley to even touch the ball after halftime. "I just had fun out there playing against him because I knew the whole world was watching."

What they saw was Beasley, who had 17 first-half points on 6-for-13 shooting, make just two second-half shots from the floor: The first on a putback at the 15 minute 41-second mark, and the second on a meaningless dunk with 3:29 left in the game — a dry spell of 12 minutes, 12 seconds between hoops.

"Didn't change a thing. We did not change one of our principles," UW coach Bo Ryan said of the second-half difference against Beasley. "We just tried to do them better."

It also helped that Stiemsma, who scored a career-best 14 points in 14 minutes, forced Beasley to work on the defensive end.

"Greg being a threat on the offensive end, I think Beasley had to worry about that," Krabbenhoft said.

In turn, at the other end, Beasley's frustration showed. Of course, he didn't get much help from his guards, who were outscored 40-4 by UW's Trevon Hughes and Michael Flowers and part of the Wildcats' 0-for-13 effort from 3-point range. (Beasley himself was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.)

"When you're down on the scoreboard, you kind of feel that way. I really don't know what to say," Beasley said of his frustration. "Second half, they (were) clamping down a little more. They were double-teaming, triple-teaming every time I touched the ball, so I really couldn't get the shot I wanted."

Much to Krabbenhoft's enjoyment.

"It was a total team effort out there," Krabbenhoft said. "Whether it was Marcus, myself or Greg on Beasley, during the second half, it didn't matter. It was a total team effort. This team played its hearts out."