No. 12 High Point upsets No. 5 Wisconsin 83-82 in NCAA men's tournament first round
High Point University, the No. 12 seed from the Big South Conference, defeated No. 5 seed Wisconsin from the Big Ten Conference 83-82 in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
High Point guard Chase Johnston scored the game-winning layup on a breakaway with 11 seconds remaining after Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd missed a layup that would have given the Badgers an 84-81 lead. High Point guard Rob Martin grabbed the rebound and passed ahead to Johnston.
Johnston scored 14 points off the bench for High Point, making 4 of 6 three-pointers. Martin led the Panthers with 23 points and 10 assists. Terry Anderson added 15 points, Cam'Ron Fletcher 14 and Owen Aquino 11.
For Wisconsin, Nick Boyd scored 27 points with five rebounds and six assists. John Blackwell had 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Austin Rapp added 12 points.
The victory was the first NCAA tournament win for High Point in the program's second appearance. The Panthers made their debut last season, losing 84-62 to Purdue in the first round as the No. 15 seed.[1]
Wisconsin suffered its second first-round loss as a No. 5 seed in three years, having fallen 72-61 to James Madison in 2024.[2] Last season, the Badgers beat Montana State in the first round before a 91-89 overtime loss to BYU in the second round.[3]
Wisconsin's most recent advancement past the second round came in 2021, when the No. 3 seed reached the Sweet 16 with wins over Abilene Christian and BYU before losing to Baylor.[4]
The Moda Center, home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers with a basketball capacity of 19,393, has hosted NCAA tournament games in previous years.[5]
Sources
- ESPN, "Purdue vs. High Point (M) - Box Score", March 20, 2025, https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401776228
- ESPN, "James Madison vs. Wisconsin (M) - Box Score", March 21, 2024, https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401570874
- ESPN, "BYU vs. Wisconsin (M) - Box Score", March 21, 2025, https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401776684
- Wikipedia, "Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball", accessed October 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Badgers_men%27s_basketball#NCAA_Tournament_results
- Wikipedia, "Moda Center", accessed October 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moda_Center
