Three keys for the Wisconsin Badgers to beat High Point in today's NCAA Tournament first round

Earning a fifth-seed in the West Region, Wisconsin will face Big South Champion High Point in the NCAA Tournament first round this afternoon at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore.

Winners of 15 of their last 20 games, including five wins over top-15 prorgrams, the Badgers (24-10) are hoping the West Region is kind to them once again, as all three of the program's Final Four appearances (2000, 2014, and 2015) started in the West Region.

The winner of this afternoon's game will face the winner of No.4 Arkansas and No.13 Hawaii in Saturday's regional final.

Here is a look at both teams with a prediction for this afternoon's contest.

High Point (30-4, 15-1 Big South) vs. No.19 Wisconsin (24-10, 14-6 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Thursday, March 19, 12:40 p.m. CT
Arena – Moda Center
TV – TBS (Brad Nessler, Wally Szczerbiak, and Jared Greenberg)
Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch)
Satellite Radio - Westwood One/Sirius XM 204 (Ryan Ratdke and Austin Croshere).
Coaches - Greg Gard at Wisconsin (237-127 in his 11th season). Flynn Clayman at High Point (First season, 32-5 in his second season)
Series – First meeting
Point Spread – Wisconsin -10.5

Fifth-seed Wisconsin begins its run toward Indianapolis this afternoon against 12th-seed High Point in Portland, Oregon. Here's how to watch, listen, or stream the game, the betting line, and some things to know #Badgers https://t.co/M9YZxqNzg4
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 19, 2026

Wisconsin probable starters

2 Nick Boyd (6-3 Senior Guard, 20.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.2 apg)
7 Andrew Rohde (6-6 Senior Guard, 5.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.8 apg)
25 John Blackwell (6-4 Junior Guard, 19.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.3 apg)
31 Nolan Winter (6-11 Junior Forward, 13.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.5 apg)
32 Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-10 Freshman Forward, 5.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.9 apg)
Off the bench
0 Braeden Carrington (6-5 Senior Guard, 8.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.1 apg)
23 Will Garlock (7-0 Freshman Center, 1.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
22 Austin Rapp (6-10 Sophomore Forward, 9.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.6 apg)
Player to watch
Looking to become the first Badger since Michael Finley (1995) to average 20.0 points in a season, Boyd is 34 points away from passing Frank Kaminsky for the most points in a single season by a UW player.

Woke up ready pic.twitter.com/DLHRtUN95V
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) March 19, 2026

High Point probable starters

3 Rob Martin (5-10 Senior Guard, 15.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.7 apg)
5 Terry Anderson (6-6 Senior Forward, 16.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.6 apg)
8 Owen Aquino (6-8 Senior Forward, 9.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.4 apg)
12 Scotty Washington (6-4 Senior Guard, 8.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.9 apg)
15 Braden Hausen (6-7 Sophomore Forward, 6.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.2 apg)
Off the bench
9 Conrad Martinez (6-0 Junior Guard, 9.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 3.4 apg)
11 Cam'ron Fletcher (6-7 Senior Forward, 12.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 0.9 apg)
99 Chase Johnston (6-3 Junior Guard, 6.1 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.5 apg)
Player to watch
Anderson was named the Big South Tournament MVP after averaging 18.6 ppg and 9.6 rpg in wins over Gardner-Webb, UNC-Asheville, and Winthrop.

High Point is dancing for the second-straight season

HPU will be a No. 12 seed in the West taking on No. 5 Wisconsin on Thursday in Portland pic.twitter.com/Y8XFCPxHPR
— Chanel Porter (@chanelcporter) March 15, 2026

Series notes

Wisconsin and High Point will be meeting for the first time in program history.

The Badgers faced former Big South member Coastal Carolina in the opening game of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, claiming an 86-72 win in Omaha. UW advanced to the national championship game that season.

Wisconsin is 4-0 all-time against current members of the Big South Conference, winning the most recent meeting, 88-43, over Presbyterian in 2012. All four meetings have been held in Madison.

Wisconsin notes

UW is averaging 11.8 3-pointers per game, which ranks fourth in the NCAA. The Badgers' 400 3FGs is a new B1G record. UW is averaging 14.8 3-pointers per game over its last six games, going 5-1 in the stretch.

Wisconsin is third in the country in turnover percentage with a 12.8 percent clip. Since Jan. 1, UW is averaging only 8.0 turnovers per game.

UW's 83.0 ppg ranks third in the B1G and would be the third-best mark in team history and most since 1970-71. Since Jan. 1, UW is third in the NCAA in offensive efficiency (according to BartTorvik.com).

UW has overcome 10-point deficits in six of its victories in 2026, the most in the nation.

High Point notes

With his 30 victories this season, Clayman is the winningest coach in his first year in the Big South. He is the 11th coach in DI college basketball history to win 30 games in their inaugural season.

High Point ranks No. 6 and has been in the top 25 for 55 consecutive weeks, the most by a Big South team and the most ever by an HPU team. The No. 5 ranking early in the season matches High Point's highest ranking, which occurred during the 2023-24 season.

High Point leads the Big South and is third nationally with 90.0 points per game, currently the fourth-highest season scoring average in the conference record book. The last Big South member to average 90.0 points in a campaign was VMI in 2008-09(93.8). High Point has eclipsed 90 points in 13 of its 30 games.

HPU's 12 wins in non-conference tied the program record set during the 2024-25 season.

Prediction

A 30-win team is nothing to scoff at, especially considering there were only six teams that hit that mark in the regular season in Division 1 this season. And while High Point didn't play a Quad-1 game and lost both of its Quad-2 games, seeing Miami (OH) - another fellow mid-major with no Quad-1 games - control its first-four game against SMU last night should validate that records don't matter in March.

That being said, Wisconsin is likely to do better against High Point's style of play than a slow, plodding offense because the Panthers play a similar brand of basketball as the Badgers. High Point wants to push the tempo, score in transition, and make teams uncomfortable with their defense.

Here are three keys for Wisconsin to win its opener.

Limit the turnovers. High Point's ability to apply pressure has them ranked second nationally in turnover margin (+7.1), third in forced turnovers (16.41), and scoring 21.2 points off turnovers per contest. Wisconsin ranks ninth nationally with 8.9 turnovers per game, but the pressure Washington deployed in the second half of the Big Ten Tournament third-round game bothered UW and allowed the Huskies to get back in the contest.

Controlling the glass. Wisconsin has done well rebounding without Winter, who is expected back in the lineup this afternoon. High Point built its team with guards who can be pesky and not turn the ball over, but the tradeoff was a lack of height. High Point ranks 329th in the country in average height, which will be a matchup problem against three UW frontcourt players who are all above 6-10.

The Panthers can be active on the glass, especially Fletcher, who had 17 points and 19 rebounds in the Big South championship game against Winthrop.

Don't let High Point get comfortable from three. The Panthers shoot 35.6 percent from three (92nd nationally), but their three-point rate (42.9 percent) ranks 116th. High Point's adjusted offensive efficiency is 69th nationally (117.0) due to generating transition opportunities and points off turnovers. If UW lets High Point get confidence from three, the Badgers open themselves up to a whole new set of problems.

Despite the problems High Point presents, Wisconsin is comes into this tournament with momentum and is closer to full strength. UW's ability to spread defenses with its elite guard combo of Boyd and Blackwell should frustrate an opponent that is not used to seeing that level of guard play. Furthermore, High Point ranks 159th in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Badgers have lost only one game this season against a team ranked outside the top 65 in that category (Oregon was 87th).

Prediction: Wisconsin by 15
Worgull's Prediction: 24-10 (18-16 ATS)
Points off Prediction: 409 (12.0 ppg)