Plays and Stats That Defined Wisconsin's Stunning Loss to High Point

Wisconsin's March Madness run was shockingly cut short Thursday afternoon, as the Badgers fell 83-82 in Portland, Oregon to the High Point Panthers in the Round of 64.

Wisconsin collapsed late in the second half and couldn't disrupt High Point from playing the style of game it wanted to play.

This loss will sting the Badgers for quite some time, who have now officially failed to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the 9th straight season. It's also the program's fifth-straight loss to 12-seeded opponents in March Madness, dropping it to 1-6 all-time.

After getting shown the door early in the big dance, a long and arduous offseason full of question marks begins.

But before the attention turns to what kind of team the Badgers can field in 2026-27, we'll take a look at how Wisconsin managed to collapse so spectacularly via the defining plays and stats:

Chase Johnston's Logo 3-Pointer

Johnston was the hero for High Point, nailing 4-of-6 triples, each one more improbable than the last. But none was more impossible than this make with just under five minutes to play:

CHASE JOHNSTON FROM THE LOGO 🎯 pic.twitter.com/BW4gGNkHW2
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026

As soon as Johnston hit that shot, you could feel the energy change. Sure, Wisconsin was up eight points, but he had no need to pull that with 26 seconds on the shot clock — and still nearly five minutes in the game. That play represented the start of the ending for the Badgers, as their eight-point lead would only whittle away from there.

16 Fastbreak Points by High Point

Wisconsin, meanwhile, only notched five. This represents what was more or less evident from the opening tip; the Panthers were going to play at their pace, which meant flying up and down the court each possession.

That pace clearly favored High Point. Their smaller yet athletic guards constantly got out in transition and pushed the pace all game. The Badgers couldn't stop them. They couldn't slow things down, and therefore couldn't stop the Panthers from playing the game they wanted.

Wisconsin, frequently unable to get set up in the half-court, couldn't keep up on defense. That led to the Panthers notching 1.169 points-per-possession and scoring on 48 percent of their possessions.

Nick Boyd Rejected at the Rim with 5 Seconds to Play

High Point Panthers forward Owen Aquino (8) blocks the shot of Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2). | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Wisconsin frustruatingly favored isolation ball on offense down the stretch, which essentially relied on Boyd to play hero ball rather than actually running the Badgers' offense. After High Point took the lead on yet another fastbreak layup, Wisconsin needed to score to take the lead down one with about 10 seconds to play. Rather than try and run any kind of action, head coach Greg Gard was content to let Boyd be the only player to touch the ball on this possession. The results were catastrophic:

OH MY GOODNESS.

THIS IS MARCH ‼️#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/1if1XqLCxI
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026

40 Rebounds for High Point

Wisconsin, meanwhile, pulled down 37. That's not the biggest disparity in the world, but still, there's absolutely no reason the 16th-tallest team in the nation by average height should get out-rebounded by the 329th-tallest team.

The difference on the boards really showed up on the offensive glass. High Point pulled down 13 offensive rebounds to Wisconsin's six. The Panthers had multiple players with double-digit rebounds. Despite the dramatic height difference, High Point also notched an impressive 32 points in the paint.

Wisconsin's Ill-Fated Hail Mary attempt

Despite the utter collapse across the final six or so minutes, the Badgers had a chance down one with 1.8 seconds on the clock — plenty of time to get a shot up.

That didn't happen. The inbounder Andrew Rohde elected to go with the deep pass intended for Nolan Winter, which was predictably swarmed by High Point and didn't have a chance.

OH MY GOODNESS.

THIS IS MARCH ‼️#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/1if1XqLCxI
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026

That obviously wasn't how Gard drew the play up, but still, to not even manage to get a shot off with that much time remaining on the clock is eyebrow-raising. A halfcourt heave woud've had a better chance than whatever action the Badgers were trying to run there.