No. 12 seed High Point delivers first upset of 2026 March Madness with win over No. 5 seed Wisconsin

Johnston was also key during the comeback, hitting a logo three to cut Wisconsin's lead to five, 70-65, with under five minutes remaining.

High Point won despite leading for only six percent of the game, showing remarkable fight for a mid-major against a power-conference foe.

Coach Flynn Clayman, in his first season after taking over Alan Huss, who left last offseason to become head-coach-in-waiting for the Creighton Bluejays, discussed his team's lack of chances to compete against top basketball programs during the regular season in a fiery postgame interview with sideline reporter Jared Greenberg.

"Nobody would play us, just like they wouldn't play Miami (Ohio)," Clayman said before putting the rest of the field on notice. "But they gotta play us in the tournament."

The Panthers entered March Madness red hot, and they currently hold the country's longest active win streak at 15 games. But like the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, who finished the regular season with a perfect 31-0 record but only qualified for the tournament as one of the last four teams in the field, it was difficult to gauge how good High Point truly was against a soft schedule.

It's likely not a coincidence both teams won their first tournament games. We should probably take that as a reminder that team's don't win 30 games by accident.

High Point's road will only get tougher from here, particularly if it plays Arkansas next. But the Panthers are a legitimate threat to advance to the second weekend. Per KenPom, they rank in the top five on offense and defense in turnover rate, with only 12.9 percent of their possessions ending in a turnover, the country's fourth-lowest rate. They also force a turnover on 21.7 percent of opponents' possessions, which ranks fifth in Division I.

Against Wisconsin, High Point only had six turnovers while forcing 10, including six off steals, proving its impressive metrics weren't just a byproduct of a schedule that ranked as the 328th-hardest in 2025-26. The Panthers are capable of hanging with the big dogs, and they could get another opportunity to prove it on Saturday. 

Onward and upward they go.