OMAHA, Neb. — University of Wisconsin sophomore point guard Trevon Hughes wanted to show the world what he could in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

He was only off by one game.

Hughes struggled in the first half of Thursday's opening Midwest Regional game against Cal State Fullerton, committing two early fouls and not scoring in five minutes.

He blamed most of that on the weeklong layoff before the game.

"It had been a week since we played and I wanted to go out there and show what I had," Hughes said. "It got away from me."

Hughes settled down in the second half and played better, scoring eight points, with only one turnover, two assists and three steals.

That was only a prelude to the second-round game against Kansas State on Saturday, when Hughes matched a career high with 25 points, to go with three assists and one turnover, in the Badgers' 72-55 victory at the Qwest Center.

"He's been playing really well," UW sophomore guard Jason Bohannon said. "In some of the games, he doesn't score the points, but he has a great floor game, he makes good decisions. He's doing everything coach (Bo) Ryan asks of him. For him to have a breakout game like this, it just shows all the potential he has."

Hughes' scoring average dwindled as the season went along, but his overall play improved.

In the previous eight games, he scored in double figures once.

But it was a nice bit of symmetry that he matched the 25-point output he had in the opener against IPFW.

The difference now is Hughes' points tend to come more within the flow of the offense and he doesn't force as much.

"The difference was be patient," Hughes said of his play from Thursday to Saturday. "I knew I had to be under control and play Wisconsin basketball, get my teammates involved before I started forcing anything.

"When the shot clock came down, I had to have the ball in my hand to make good decisions for Wisconsin. And (Saturday) this felt good, the ball in my hand."

Hughes penetrated at will against Kansas State freshman Jacob Pullen. But UW senior forward Brian Butch said it also had to do with how the Wildcats defended the Badgers' ball-screen action.

"They tried taking me and Marcus (Landry) away a little bit and there's another guy (Hughes) that steps up," Butch said. "That's why this team's been so successful."

Hughes never lost confidence in his ability to score, knowing it was always there when needed. The Badgers needed it in this game and Hughes delivered in a major way.

"He's shown this before, but on this stage?" UW junior Joe Krabbenhoft said. "To go to the Sweet 16? I'm so proud of him. Because we know what he has in him. We know he can do all that stuff."

Cats' loneliest number: 3

As much as 6-foot-10 forward Michael Beasley was the pregame talk of the town, Kansas State coach Frank Walker knew better.

His Wildcats would have to shoot the ball well from the perimeter to have any chance of beating the Badgers.

"We knew (that) if you don't make jump shots, you're not beating Wisconsin," Martin said. "It's not happening."

The Wildcats didn't just miss jump shots Saturday.

They missed all of them. Kansas State was 0-for-13 from 3-point range — snapping the Wildcats' streak of 348 straight games with at least one 3-pointer — and none of their 21 field goals came from outside the lane.

"As I sit here talking to you right now, I can't think of too many jump shots we made, period. Everything we did was at the rim and/or foul line," Martin said. "And that's not the team you want to play on a night you don't make jump shots."

Meanwhile, Hughes (2-for-4) and Michael Flowers (3-for-3) were lighting it up for UW from 3-point range in the first half, when UW was 7-for-15 from beyond the arc as a team. UW finished 9-for-22.

"That's what made us comfortable and got (us) into our game," said Hughes, adding he thought the Wildcats' "legs got tired" from having to work hard on the defensive end.

"When shots are falling down in the beginning, it's going to be easier for us to run our offense and play defense. Kansas State was playing catch up the whole game."

Technically speaking

Butch and Kansas State's Bill Walker were both called for technical fouls after they got tied up under the basket. Walker scored on a putback with 14 minutes, 4 seconds to play and got his arms tied up with Butch, who pushed him off.

The Kansas State partisan crowd did not like the call.

"I thought he came in and I thought he gave me a forearm," Butch said. "I tried just to get him off me more than anything."

In the paint

The Badgers are 10-6 under Ryan in NCAA tournament games. Before he arrived in 2001, the school had won nine games in its history in the NCAA tournament. ... UW is one of five schools to win at least 30 games the last two seasons, along with North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas. — Jason Wilde contributed to this report.