No. 12 seed High Point University rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat No. 5 seed Wisconsin 83-82 in a first-round game of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on March 19, 2026, at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
High Point guard Chase Johnston scored a layup on a fast break with 11.7 seconds left to give the Panthers the lead. The play followed a missed layup by Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd, with High Point guard Rob Martin grabbing the rebound and passing ahead to Johnston, who entered the game as a three-point specialist and made his first two-point basket of the season.
Owen Aquino then blocked another driving layup attempt by Boyd. Cam'Ron Fletcher was fouled and missed one free throw, leaving 1.8 seconds on the clock. Terry Anderson intercepted a long inbound pass by Andrew Rohde to secure the victory for High Point.
In postgame comments, Johnston said: "First and foremost, I wanna give all glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's been an unbelievable season. This is a group of guys that's built on John 15:13. We serve each other, we love each other, and we’d die for each other. I'm so grateful."
The win came under first-year head coach Flynn Clayman for the Big South Conference member High Point Panthers[1], based in High Point, North Carolina[1].
Wisconsin, representing the Big Ten Conference[2], fell to 0-1 in the tournament.
High Point advances to the second round to face No. 4 seed Arkansas on Saturday.
Sources
- High Point University Athletics, Men's Basketball, n.d. (accessed October 2024), https://highpointpanthers.com/sports/mens-basketball
- University of Wisconsin Athletics, Men's Basketball, n.d. (accessed October 2024), https://uwbadgers.com/sports/mens-basketball
- NCAA, Men's March Madness, n.d. (accessed October 2024), https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness/mens-basketball
- Wikipedia, Moda Center, n.d. (accessed October 2024), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moda_Center
