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Chase Johnston made his first 2-point basket of the season, a fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining that gave No. 12 seed High Point an 83-82 victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Johnston finished with 14 points in Portland, Ore., including four 3-pointers for the Panthers, who were 10 1/2-point underdogs, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. He came in shooting 64 of 136 (47.1 per cent) from 3-point range but 0-for-4 inside the arc, and he had played more minutes (406) and scored more points (196) without making a 2-point shot than any player in the country.
“I wasn’t really thinking whether it was a 2 or a 3, I was just trying to put it in and win the game,” Johnston said.
Rob Martin had 23 points and 10 assists for the Panthers, who will face either 13th-seeded Hawaii or No. 4 seed Arkansas in the second round of the Midwest Region on Saturday.
Nick Boyd finished with 27 points and John Blackwell added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Badgers (24-11), who have lost to a lower-seeded team in each of their last four NCAA Tournament appearances. They fell to No. 11 seed Iowa State in 2022 and No. 12 seed James Madison in 2024 and lost in the second round last year as a 3 seed to sixth-seeded BYU.
“You get sent home when you don’t take care of the things you need to take care off,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said
After Johnston’s bucket gave High Point the lead, Owen Aquino blocked a driving layup by Boyd. The Panthers’ Cam’Ron Fletcher was fouled and missed a free throw, giving the Badgers a chance with one second left, but Andrew Rohde’s long pass was stolen by Terry Anderson and the celebration was on for High Point and first-year coach Flynn Clayman.
High Point earned a spot in the tournament by winning the Big South title for the second straight season. This was the first March Madness win for the Panthers, who lost to Purdue in the first round last year.
Clayman took over for Alan Huss, who left to become an assistant at Creighton with the stipulation he’ll be Greg McDermott’s successor.
“Just to be on this stage and play a game like this, something you dream about. I remember playing basketball with my brother in he backyard, one-on-one. We had our own little brackets, picking what teams we wanted to be and trying to win March Madness,” Clayman said. “And now to be on this stage with these guys and being able to hit a couple of shots and finish the layup, It’s just something I’ll never forget.”
Martin ties game on 3-pointer
High Point was resilient against Wisconsin’s duo of Blackwell and Boyd, taking an early second-half 43-41 lead. Both Badgers guards averaged 19-plus point this season.
The Badgers pushed ahead 56-50, but High Point tied it 58-58 on Martin’s 3-pointer. After a Wisconsin turnover, Martin missed a layup and on the next possession, Rohde hit a 3 for the Badgers.
Braeden Carrington’s three stretched Wisconsin’s lead to 68-61 with 7:45 left. Terry Anderson’s dunk got the Panthers within 72-70 with 3:48 left. After Boyd answered with a pair of free throws, Johnston hit another three to get the Panthers within a point.
Johnston hit his fourth three to pull High Point within 82-81 with 55 seconds to go.
The Badgers, making their 29th tournament appearance, lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament to Michigan.
Bracket heartache for millions
Well, the dream was fun while it lasted … all two-ish hours of it.
The bid for a perfect NCAA men’s tournament bracket disappeared for over 25 million people by mid-afternoon on Thursday, fuelled by 12th-seeded High Point’s first-round stunner over fifth-seeded Wisconsin.
ESPN reported just under 900,000 blemish-free brackets remained after the opening wave of games. That’s just over three per cent of the total brackets entered.
TCU, a ninth-seed, nicked some brackets in the first game of the tournament by edging eighth-seed Ohio State. Nebraska, a fourth-seed, picked up its first-ever NCAA victory by racing past Troy.
The upsets also took a toll over at Yahoo, where 83 per cent of the entries included a win by Wisconsin in the first round.
The odds of going 67-for-67 (or 63 for 63 if you don’t pick the First Four) in the men’s bracket are longer than one of those 3-pointers hoisted up by High Point’s Chase Johnston. Way longer.
The NCAA estimates the chances of ending the tournament with a zero in the loss column range anywhere from one in 9.2 quintillion (if you flip a coin for every game). The odds drop a little if you make educated guesses … all the way to one in 120 billion.
The NCAA’s own bracket challenge looked a lot like ESPN’s, with about 3.5 per cent of entries still having a shot at perfection.
Other results
- (1) Duke 71, (16) Siena 65
- (4) Nebraska 76, (13) Troy 47
- (5) Vanderbilt 78, (12) McNeese State 68
- (6) Louisville 83, (11) South Florida 79
- (9) TCU 66, (8) Ohio State 64
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