High Point braces for battle against Badgers

High Point celebrates its announcement in March Madness field during NCAA Tournament selection show. Panthers will face Wisconsin on Thursday. (Photo by High Point Athletics)

By Josh Noel (@Josh_DDH)

PORTLAND, Ore. — For the second consecutive season, the High Point Panthers will play in the NCAA Tournament against a Big Ten opponent.

This year, their opposition will don badger red and white instead of old gold and black. 

High Point, the No. 12 seed in the West Region, will face fifth-seeded Wisconsin at 1:50 p.m. Eastern Thursday afternoon at the Moda Center.

The back-to-back Big South champion Panthers improved their seed by one line from a year ago, but their opponent is arguably even tougher. The Badgers boast some of the best wins in the country, including one of the three defeats of No. 1 seed Michigan. 

High Point enters the NCAA Tournament with the longest winning streak in the country at 14 straight victories. The Panthers carried an identical win streak and accolade last season prior to their first-round matchup against Purdue last March. Wisconsin fell, 68-65, at the hands of Michigan in the Big Ten tournament, but the Badgers are playing their best basketball of the season, ranking fifth overall nationally according to Bart Torvik since February 28. 

Per ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, at least one 12-seed has defeated a 5-seed in 34 of the last 40 tournaments since 1985. What will it take for High Point to earn its first NCAA Tournament victory and become just the second-ever Big South team to advance to the round of 32? Here are five of the top storylines to monitor before Thursday’s contest: 

 

It’s a Sprint, not a Marathon 

Legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant is often quoted for his saying “defense wins championships.” While that time-tested adage may prove to be true in the long run for this year’s NCAA Tournament, it will likely not be the case on Thursday afternoon. High Point ranks third nationally at an even 90.0 points per game. while Wisconsin is tied for 35th at 83.0 points per game. Terry Anderson (16.0 PPG) and Rob Martin (15.3 PPG) lead the Panthers, as they have seemingly all season. Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd (20.6 PPG) and John Blackwell (19.0 PPG) both rank within the top 55 nationally in scoring and are one of only five teams to boast a duo of Top 100 scorers. The expected points total of 164.5 ranks third-highest across the 32-game first round slate, so fans of the Panthers and Badgers ought to leave the jogging shoes at home and bring the track spikes instead. 

 

David versus Goliath (Literally) 

The biblical story of a mere man slaying the mighty giant warrior is often used during this time of the year. This matchup between the Badgers and Panthers will reflect a similar size discrepancy. Wisconsin’s average height is 78.8 inches, good for 16th-tallest in the country, while High Point’s is 76.3 inches, ranking in the bottom end of Division I at 329th overall. The Badger frontcourt features a pair of 6-foot-10 forwards in Austin Rapp and Aleksas Bieliauskas, along with 7-footer Nolan Winter expected back from an ankle injury that sidelined him in the Big Ten tournament. HPU navigated its regular season and the Big South tournament with 6-foot-8 forward Owen Aquino anchoring the frontcourt. While the second team all-Big South honoree will be tasked with a heavy workload Thursday on both ends, the Panthers’ best hope for stifling the Badgers on the boards may be 6-foot-7 forward Cam’Ron Fletcher. Fletcher tied a Big South championship record when he pulled down 19 rebounds in the victory over Winthrop in 29 minutes, his most since December. High Point can ill afford to get doubled up on the glass like it did last March against Purdue (39-20) if it wants to knock off Wisconsin. 

 

Bombs Away, Bombs Away, Bombs Away All 

The modern era of basketball has been revolutionized by the art of the 3-pointer and its importance in analytics. Wisconsin is a prolific 3-point shooting team, currently ranking sixth in Division I in 3-point attempt percentage (52.6 percent), fourth in points distribution from 3-pointers (42.5 percent) while shooting 36.1 percent, good for 53rd nationally. The Badgers average 11.8 made 3-pointers per game, and have made at least 13 threes in half of their games this season. High Point’s 35.6 percent 3-point shooting ranks closer to the middle of the pack, but its perimeter shooting wavered throughout Big South play. Thankfully for the Panthers, they have made at least eight 3-pointers in seven of their last eight games ahead of this showdown. If HPU is to keep up with the bombs-away Badgers, Chase Johnston will likely need to play an integral role. Johnston, a sixth-year graduate student, is shooting 48.5 percent from deep on only 132 attempts this year and went viral this past week for his shooting splits, which include 4-for-4 from the free throw line on the season and 0-for-4 on non-3-point shots. Johnston ranks 24th all-time in Division I for 3-point makes, and would pass Stephen Curry if he makes four more. A Curry-esque performance may be crucial in HPU landing the upset. 

 

Swiper, No Swiping 

While High Point made a name for itself with efficient offense over the past several seasons, it’s the Panther defense that has been a driving force for this season. HPU’s propensity to force turnovers ranks the Panthers tops in the country in steals per game (10.9) and third in turnovers forced per game (16.41). Combined with a Top 20 limited dose of self-inflicted turnovers (9.4 per game), HPU carries the second-best turnover margin in the country at 7.1 and scores a whopping 21.2 points per game off turnovers. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Badgers are also keen on taking care of the ball. Wisconsin averages 8.9 turnovers per game, ninth-best in the nation, and only turned it over 10 or more times in just 12 games this season. While it may be difficult to wrestle the ball away from the Badgers, the Panthers should maintain a low turnover rate, as Wisconsin ranks in the bottom 50 for forcing turnovers at 14.5 percent of possessions. 

 

A Coach and his Player on a National Stage 

The 2025-26 season is already a record-setting campaign for HPU. High Point finished as the first team in Big South history to win 30 games, surpassing the record set by last season’s HPU squad by one game. The turnaround of the program in the past three seasons has resulted in a win total that rivals elite basketball powers such as Duke, UConn, Houston, and Florida. Head coach Flynn Clayman inherited the reins of the program from Alan Huss, and instantly became just the 11th coach in Division I history to win 30 games in his first season. Clayman would be the first to tell you that the success of his first team is predicated on the relationship he has with his breakout star, Terry Anderson. Sharing the court together Thursday will mark a result several years in the making for Clayman. 

“I remember him visiting us at (Southern Utah) on an official visit and telling my athletic director that this guy was going to get us to the NCAA tournament,” said Clayman. “For him to get (to High Point) and be what he was not only this year in the Big South tournament while having the kind of individual season as arguably the best player in the conference, and definitely was the best player when it mattered most, I just couldn't be happier for him.”

Clayman and High Point are the final stop in Anderson’s college journey, but both have left a lasting impression on him as he finishes out his career.

“Coach Flynn and I have been locked in together for four years now,” Anderson said. “To see his family grow up and them welcoming in a son come into the world this summer, he's just a part of my family now. The people here at HPU, they treat you like your family that’s been here your whole life. I'm just ready to just show the world what we can do, show the world who High Point really is, and put our name out there by winning a game in the tournament.”