PORTLAND, Ore. — Chase Johnston made his first 2-point basket of the season, a fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining that gave No. 12 seed High Point an 83-82 victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Johnston finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers for the Panthers, who were 10.5-point underdogs, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. He came in shooting 64 of 136 (47.1%) from 3-point range but 0 of 4 inside the arc, and he had played more minutes (406) and scored more points (196) without making a 2-point shot than any player in the country.

“I wasn’t really thinking whether it was a 2 or a 3, I was just trying to put it in and win the game,” Johnston said.

Rob Martin had 23 points and 10 assists for the Panthers, who will face either 13th-seeded Hawaii or No. 4 seed Arkansas in the second round of the Midwest Region on Saturday.

Nick Boyd finished with 27 points and John Blackwell added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Badgers (24-11), who have lost to a lower-seeded team in each of their last four NCAA Tournament appearances. They fell to No. 11 seed Iowa State in 2022 and No. 12 seed James Madison in 2024 and lost in the second round last year as a 3 seed to sixth-seeded BYU.

This latest upset was responsible for ending the hopes of the vast majority of entrants who tried to complete a perfect 2026 bracket.

“You get sent home when you don’t take care of the things you need to take care of,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.

After Johnston’s bucket gave High Point the lead, Owen Aquino blocked a driving layup by Boyd. The Panthers’ Cam’Ron Fletcher was fouled and missed a free throw, giving the Badgers a chance with 1 second left, but Andrew Rohde’s long pass was stolen by Terry Anderson and the celebration began.

UNC KO’d

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Terrence Hill Jr. made a stepback 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in overtime and No. 11 VCU erased from a 19-point second-half deficit to stun sixth-seeded North Carolina 82-78 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Hill finished 7 for 10 from 3-point range and scored 20 of 34 points after halftime as VCU (28-7) won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2016. Nyk Lewis added 16 points, including two clutch free throws, to seal the game for the Rams, who’ll face the winner of No. 14 Penn and No. 3 Illinois in the second round on Saturday.

Henri Veesaar had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (25-8), who went 0-3 after star Caleb Wilson was ruled out for the season with an injury.

Elsewhere:

n Duke barely avoided a shocking upset to open the NCAA Tournament, with the No. 1 overall seed having to rally from 13 points down and going ahead for good in the final 5 minutes to beat Siena, 71-65. Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the East Region’s headliner, which hit its first four shots yet need a comeback against a fearless upstart playing just five players right up to the final seconds. And yet, the Saints took it to the Blue Devils (33-2) at every turn.

The No. 1 seeds entered the week with a 158-2 record against 16 seeds in the tournament, the outliers being Virginia’s loss to UMBC in 2018 and Purdue’s loss to Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023. And Duke — a blueblood with five NCAA titles — spent much of Thursday in serious danger of being added to that list before finally wrestling away control of the game in the last 8 minutes. Gavin Doty scored 21 points to lead the Saints (23-12).