March Madness: The tourney’s first big upset — High Point over Wisconsin — came via a shot no one saw coming

High Point’s Chase Johnston might be the most unlikely player in the entire NCAA tournament to produce a game-winning layup. 

Until the closing seconds of his team’s 83-82 first-round victory over Wisconsin, the 3-point specialist  hadn’t scored a single basket all season from inside the arc. In fact, he had only attempted four 2-point shots. 

The opportunity to end that season-long drought arose with 12th-seeded High Point trailing by one and in need of a defensive stop to give itself a chance to finish off its upset bid. Johnston cleverly leaked out in transition when Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd missed a contested driving layup and the rest of the Badgers either crashed the offensive glass or got caught watching the ball instead of sprinting back on defense.

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When the rebound caromed into the arms of High Point’s Rob Martin, the senior guard already knew where Johnston was and didn’t waste any time dribbling before throwing an outlet pass. Johnston caught the ball at the 3-point line, took two — OK, maybe three — long strides and finished with a go-ahead layup with 11.2 seconds to go. 

“When Rob threw that up, I was just like, I’ve got to put this in the hoop,” Johnston said. “I wasn’t really thinking whether it was a two or a three. I was just trying to put it in and win this game.”

Johnson’s improbable basket became the game winner when High Point followed it with another key defensive stand. Owen Aquino blocked another driving layup attempt from Boyd, securing High Point’s first NCAA tournament victory in school history and earning the Panthers a crack at either Arkansas or Hawaii in Saturday’s second round. 

The layup from Johnston was far from his only contribution of the day. The sixth-year senior came off the bench to tally 14 points and sink four 3-pointers, including three in the game’s final five minutes. 

His impossibly deep logo 3-pointer cut Wisconsin’s lead to 70-65 with 4:55 to go. His 25-footer a few minutes later pulled High Point within one. His right-wing 3-pointer with just under a minute left in regulation again brought the Panthers back within a single point and paved the way for his heroics to come. 

The 3-point bombs were what High Point expected from Johnston when he arrived via the transfer portal two years ago. The former second-team all-conference guard at Stetson and double-digit scorer at Florida Gulf Coast has shot 40% from 3-point range in his five full seasons playing Division I college basketball. 

Entering Thursday, Johnston was 64-of-136 (47%) for the season from behind the arc. He passed Steph Curry on Thursday to move into 22nd in career made 3-pointers with 415.

Johnson began this season as a mainstay in High Point’s starting five, but coach Flynn Cayman reconsidered when the Panthers started out 8-3 with losses to middling UAB, Southern Illinois and Appalachian State.

“I really got down to the nitty gritty of what we needed to do because at High Point that’s not good enough for our standard,” said Cayman, whose team has now won 27 or more games each of the past three seasons. 

“I asked him to take a bench role because we were a little small starting games. His willingness to take that role and keep leading and then at the end of the season to be doing what he’s doing, it speaks to how selfless these guys are.”

Johnson became High Point’s version of former Oakland NCAA tournament hero Jack Gohlke this season, forcing opponents to guard him from 30 feet from the rim and creating more space for his teammates to drive. His biggest moments all came from behind the arc right up until Thursday, when he suddenly found nothing but daylight between himself and the rim in the closing seconds of the biggest game of his life. 

“This is something you dream about,” Johnston said. “I remember playing basketball with my brother in the backyard 1-on-1. We had our own little brackets, picking what teams we wanted to be and trying to win March Madness. Now to be on this stage with these guys and to be able to hit a couple shots and finish with a layup, it’s something I’ll never forget.”