No. 12 seed High Point University defeated No. 5 seed Wisconsin 83-82 on March 19, 2026, at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[1]
The Panthers staged a comeback from a double-digit deficit for their first victory in NCAA tournament history. High Point earned an automatic bid by winning the Big South Conference tournament title for the second consecutive season. The team lost to Purdue in the first round of the 2025 tournament.[1]
High Point coach Flynn Clayman said after the game: "It looks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors early in the season. Because they said we didn't play nobody. We played somebody now." He added: "I know how good of a team we are. But nobody would play us."[1]
Chase Johnston scored the game-winning layup with 11.7 seconds remaining after grabbing a rebound off a missed layup by Wisconsin's Nick Boyd. Johnston's basket was his first two-point field goal of the season. He finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. High Point was a 10.5-point underdog.[1]
Owen Aquino then blocked Boyd's drive, and Terry Anderson intercepted a long inbound pass from Andrew Rohde with 1.8 seconds left to seal the win.
High Point, a mid-major program from the Big South Conference based in High Point, North Carolina, had limited non-conference opportunities against power-conference teams during the regular season.[2] Wisconsin, from the Big Ten Conference, entered as a higher seed after a strong regular season.[3]
The NCAA tournament first round features matchups between seeds 1-16 within each of four regions, with winners advancing to the second round.[4]
Sources
- Fox News, "High Point is riding high after its first March Madness victory in school history", March 20, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/sports
- High Point Panthers official athletics site, "Men's Basketball", accessed October 2024, https://highpointpanthers.com/sports/mens-basketball
- University of Wisconsin Athletics, "Men's Basketball", accessed October 2024, https://uwbadgers.com/sports/mens-basketball
- NCAA.com, "Men's Basketball Tournament", accessed October 2024, https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness
