March Madness has its first Cinderella entry.
No. 12 seed High Point upended No. 5 seed Wisconsin, 83-82 in a thriller on Thursday as the first double-digit seed to secure a win in the NCAA tournament.
Advertisement
Wisconsin led by 10 points in the first half and 70-62 with 7:08 remaining. But the Panthers rallied to secure the upset win behind hot 3-point shooting down the stretch.
Backup Chase Johnston powered the late rally with a 14-point effort while shooting 4 of 6 from 3, then hitting the go-ahead bucket in the final 12 seconds. Johnston sparked the rally with a pull-up from the logo with 4:43 remaining.
That was the first of Johnston’s three made 3-pointers in the game’s final 4:55.
The Panthers then cut their deficit to 82-81 in the final minute, and Johnston secured an 83-82 lead for High Point on a breakaway layup with 11.2 seconds remaining.
Johnston hadn’t hit a 2-point shot all season
The layup was the first 2-point bucket of the season for Johnston, a 3-point specialist who averaged 6.1 points per game while shooting 48.5% on 4.1 3-point attempts per game.
Advertisement
Entering Thursday, Johnston was 64 of 136 for the season on 3-point attempts. He was 0 for 4 from inside the arc. Now he’s 1 for 5.
The bucket gave High Point its first lead since it took a 43-41 advantage with 18:56 remaining.
High Point then got two stops in the final seconds to secure its first-ever NCAA tournament win in just its second NCAA tournament game after making its debut last season.
Johnston wasn’t High Point’s only hero on Thursday. Senior guard Rob Martin led the Panthers with 23 points and 10 assists as one of five High Point players to score in double figures.
The Panthers, like so many Cinderellas do, leaned on the 3-point shot to secure the upset while shooting 15 of 40 (38%) from beyond the arc. Wisconsin also shot well from long distance, but on considerably less volume in a 9 of 23 effort (39%).
Advertisement
High Point also won the rebounding battle, 40-37, and took care of the ball, committing just six turnovers for the game vs. 10 for Wisconsin.
The Big South champion, High Point entered Thursday’s game at 30-4. But, per CBS, it was previously 0-57 all-time against power conference opponents. Now it’s 1-57 in such games. And it advances to the second round, where it will take on the winner between No. 4 seed Arkansas and No. 13 seed Hawaii.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, is out of the tournament in the first round. And it’s still seeking its first trip to the NCAA tournament’s second weekend since advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2017.
Advertisement
The loss was the second in three NCAA tournament games for the Big Ten after No. 8 seed Ohio State lost to No. 9 seed TCU in the first game of the tournament. No. 4 seed Nebraska beat No. 12 seed McNeese for its first-ever NCAA tournament win.