Fullerton is ushered aside

OMAHA -- Alas, the 30-year old glass slipper had cracked.

Either that, or it just didn’t fit anymore after sitting in Cal State Fullerton’s closet since 1978.

The Titans did their best to squeeze in, hanging much closer than anyone outside their locker room might have expected but were eventually worn down by big-bodied Wisconsin and lost, 71-56, in a first-round game of the Midwest Regional at the Qwest Center.

Fullerton, making its first NCAA tournament appearance since the 1978 team made an improbable run to the Elite Eight, rode the shoulders of guard Josh Akognon and was within eight points, 62-54, with 3 minutes 49 seconds to play, but couldn’t come up with one last run.

“It’s disappointing that we couldn’t come back and win,” Titans Coach Bob Burton said. “Our guys really thought they could win. We’re not the brightest group in the world, so that was kind of on our agenda.”

The No. 14-seeded Titans (24-9) ultimately fell victim, despite their nickname, because they didn’t have enough size.

Akognon, a 5-foot-11 guard, was firing away from outside and finished with a career-high equaling 31 points, but Wisconsin’s big men, led by 6-11 center Brian Butch and 6-7 forward Marcus Landry, outrebounded Fullerton, 50-27.

“Their size really got to us,” said Fullerton forward Scott Cutley, who was matched up with Butch and finished with only nine points and three rebounds, well below his season averages of 14.8 and 7.6.

“In the end it was just a wear on all of our bigs to keep all of them off the boards and that was the key to the game.”

Fullerton was well aware that it was outsized at nearly every position -- at some by more than five inches. The Titans were a decided underdog going up against the Big Ten Conference champion Badgers (30-4) but still never gave up hope.

“Everybody was counting us out,” Cutley said. “We liked hearing that. We liked that there was basically no upsets [Thursday]. Maybe we had a chance to be that one upset, but it didn’t turn out that way.”

For a while it looked as if it might. Fullerton used a hot-shooting start and led for much of the first half before Wisconsin rallied and took a 30-28 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Fullerton would not fade away. The Titans grabbed a 31-30 lead 2 1/2 minutes into the half and seemed poised to push the Badgers.

“We weren’t taken aback at all,” said Butch, who had 14 points and nine rebounds. “This is the NCAA tournament. It’s win or go home. We knew they were a heck of a team when we got here and they fought us hard and they continued to fight us hard the entire game.”

The big turning point came when Frank Robinson, Fullerton’s second-leading scorer, picked up his fourth foul with 16:42 to play, then fouled out with 12:08 to go and the Titans trailing, 45-37.

Wisconsin took control after that, despite the efforts of Akognon, who scored 15 points after Robinson fouled out.

“The foul trouble really had our rotation fouled up,” Burton said. “We’re really not that deep of a team and it took us out of the way we wanted to play.”

The way Fullerton wanted to play was fast. The Titans were sixth in the nation in scoring, averaging 82.6 points a game but were held to a season low against a stifling defense that dictated the pace.

Wisconsin has one of the top defenses in the nation, holding opponents to a national-low 53.8 points a game and limiting them to 38% shooting.

Fullerton shot 36.2.

“That wasn’t how we wanted to play, that was how they wanted to play,” Burton said of the pace. “It’s always easier to get somebody to play slow than to get somebody to play fast.

“And they play such good defense. They defended us and guarded us. They were getting through screens and obviously you couldn’t score inside.”

The Badgers move on to play No. 11-seeded Kansas State, an 80-67 winner over USC, in the second round Saturday with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

Landry, a 6-7 forward, had eight points and 12 rebounds for Wisconsin and Joe Krabbenhoft, another 6-7 forward had 13 points and nine rebounds.

“Their size wears you down,” Burton said. “You have Scott Cutley leaning on those big guys all game and eventually that catches up to you.

“Fatigue kind of set in on us and we weren’t able to make that one last push.”

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peter.yoon@latimes.com