March Madness: Coach lashes out at elite programs as High Point shock Wisconsin

Chase Johnston made his first two-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 three-pointers for the Panthers, who were 10-and-a-half-point underdogs. He came in shooting 64 of 136 (47.1%) from three-point range but 0 of 4 inside the arc.

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 for Wisconsin (24-11). John Blackwell added 22 points and 10 rebounds.

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 one second left, but Andrew Rohde’s long pass was stolen by Terry Anderson and the celebration was on for High Point and first-year coach Flynn Clayman.

High Point earned a spot in the tournament by winning the Big South title for the second straight season. This was the first March Madness win for the Panthers, who lost to Purdue in the first round last year.

Clayman took over for Alan Huss, who left to become an assistant at Creighton with the stipulation he’ll be Greg McDermott’s successor.

Afterwards, High Point’s flinty coach cut something of a pro wrestling promo in his on-court interview with TBS, lashing out at schools from power conferences like Wisconsin that refuse to schedule mid-major programs like High Point during the regular season due to the risk.

“It looks pretty obvious to me that high majors need to play mid-majors during the season, because they said we ain’t played nobody,” Clayman said, his voice rising. “We played somebody now.”

He added: “[It] feels unreal, because I know how good of a team we have. But nobody would play us. Just like they wouldn’t play Miami Ohio. But they gotta play us in this tournament.”

High Point was resilient against Wisconsin’s duo of Blackwell and Boyd, taking an early second-half 43-41 lead. Both Badgers guards averaged 19-plus point this season.

The Badgers pushed ahead 56-50, but High Point tied it at 58-all on Martin’s three-pointer. After a Wisconsin turnover, Martin missed a layup and on the next possession, Rohde hit a three for the Badgers.

Braeden Carrington’s three stretched Wisconsin’s lead to 68-61 with 7:45 left. Terry Anderson’s dunk got the Panthers within 72-70 with 3:48 left. After Boyd answered with a pair of free throws, Johnston hit another three to get the Panthers within a point.

Johnston hit his fourth three to pull High Point within 82-81 with 55 seconds to go.

The Badgers, making their 29th tournament appearance, lost in the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament to Michigan.

No 4 Nebraska 76, No 13 Troy 47

Pryce Sandfort scored 23 points and Nebraska rolled to its long-awaited first NCAA Tournament victory, beating Troy 76-47 on Thursday.

The Cornhuskers (27-6), the No 4 seed in the South Region, entered March Madness as the only school from a power conference without a tournament win – they were 0-8, with many of the losses coming as the higher seed. Sandfort helped the Huskers end the drought by making seven three-pointers.

Braden Frager and Jamarques Lawrence each scored 13 points and Rienk Mast added 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Huskers, who will play either No 5 seed Vanderbilt or 12th-seeded McNeese in the second round on Saturday.

Victor Valdes scored 14 points for 13th-seeded Troy (22-12), the Sun Belt Tournament champion.

Nebraska opened this season on a 20-game win streak and was ranked as high as No 5 in the AP Top 25, giving fans hope that this would be the year for a breakthrough. Paycom Center, which seats 18,203 for Oklahoma City Thunder games, was filled with boisterous Nebraska fans. The Lincoln campus is a six-hour drive away.

No 9 TCU 66, No 8 Ohio State 64

David Punch provided some bulletin-board material this week when he told the Columbus Dispatch that TCU would beat Ohio State “nine times out of 10” because of their athleticism.

On Thursday, Punch and the Horned Frogs backed up his bold talk.

Punch delivered a textbook entry pass to Xavier Edmonds, who converted a layup to beat the shot clock with 4.3 seconds left as No 9 seed TCU held off a furious second-half rally by eighth-seeded Ohio State for a 66-64 victory to open the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Bruce Thornton’s half-court heave at the buzzer hit all backboard, and the Buckeyes’ standout senior leaned forward and put his hands on his knees in dismay near midcourt as TCU began its celebration.

Micah Robinson made four three-pointers and scored 18 points to lead TCU, Edmonds scored 16 and Punch had 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Horned Frogs (23-11) will play Saturday against either No 16 seed Siena or Duke, the No 1 overall seed in the tournament.

No 6 Louisville 83, No 11 South Florida 79

Isaac McKneely scored 23 points, and Louisville hung on to beat South Florida 83-79 on Thursday to win their first NCAA Tournament game since Rick Pitino’s final season as coach.

Ryan Conwell scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half and backup forward Sananda Fru had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinals.

Louisville (24-10) showed signs of struggling without starting point guard Mikel Brown Jr, who missed his fifth straight game with back issues. It was evident in the Cardinals’ issues against South Florida’s press in nearly squandering a 22-point lead over the final 11:25.

Brown is not expected to return for the second round on Saturday. That’s when the East Region’s sixth seed Louisville plays the winner of the game between third-seeded Michigan State (25-7) and North Dakota State (27-7).

Joseph Pinion scored 27 points for South Florida (25-9) in a game in which the Bulls missed 20 of their first 21 three-point attempts. The Bulls were making just their fourth tournament appearance and first since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2012.