PORTLAND, Ore. – The High Point University men's basketball team will take on No. 5 Wisconsin in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 19. The Panthers' No. 12 seed is the highest in program history after making March Madness for the second time in program history in back-to-back seasons.

#12 Men's Basketball - NCAA Tournament First Round vs #5 Wisconsin 
Thursday, March 19 | 1:50 p.m. EST | Portland, Ore. | Moda Center
Watch Live TBS | LiveStats | Bracket

Records: High Point 30-4, Wisconsin 24-10
First Meeting

The Matchup
This will be the first matchup between the two teams in program history. Wisconsin enters the game as a No. 5 seed and is coming off a 2-1 performance at the Big Ten Championships, beating Washington and Illinois, before falling to Michigan in the Big Ten Semifinals. The Badgers are led by Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, averaging 20.6 points per game and 19.0 points per game. Nolan Winter leads the team on the boards averaging 8.6 per game. As a team Wisconsin is fourth in the country in three-pointers per game averaging 11.8 after eclipsing 400 this season in the last game. The Badgers are coached by Greg Gard who is in his 11th season.

Last time out
High Point defeated Winthrop 91-76 in the Big South Championship to win its second consecutive Big South Tournament title. Rob Martin led the team with 24 points followed by Terry Anderson with 18 points and Cam'Ron Fletcher with 17 points and 19 rebounds. Anderson was named the Tournament MVP and Martin was named to the All-Tournament team.


Notable Player & Team Notes
 
NABC All-District
Rob Martin & Terry Anderson were named to the NABC All-District teams in the South Atlantic. Anderson was named to the first team & Martin to the second team.
 
Best Seed in Program History
HPU secured the No. 12 seed which is the highest seed HPu has received in program history.
 
And then there were two
High Point & Duke are the only 2 teams in the country to win 2025 & 2026 conference tournament championships in men's and women's basketball. Only six programs swept conference titles in 2026.
 
National Watch List Finalists
Rob Martin has been named a finalist for the Riley Wallace award which goes to the most impactful transfer in DI.
 
Longest Active Win Streak in the Country
The Panthers have the longest active win streak in the country with 14 wins, tying HPU's program record from a season ago.
 
Win like Flynn
With his 30 victories this season, Flynn 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 inagural season. The 12th overall head coach in his first year in the Big South to reach 20 wins during his initial season in the league, Clayman passed his predecessor Alan Huss, who set the record of 27 in 2023-24. In addition, Clayman set the record for the most Big South victories in his first campaign in the league with 15, a record first set by Towson State's Terry Truax in 1992-93 and by Winthrop's Mark Prosser in 2021-22. Meanwhile, the Panthers have recorded their third consecutive 20-win season, as HPU tied as the third-fastest squad to reach 20 victories (24 games) in Big South annals.
 
MVP x All-Tournament Team
Terry Anderson was named the Big South Tournament MVP after averaging 18.6 ppg and 9.6 rpg. Rob Martin & Scotty Washington were named to the All-Tournament team.
 
Back-to-Back CHAMPS
HPU defeated Winthrop for the second consecutive season in the Big South Championship game, 91-76 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
55 Weeks in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Rankings
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 ever ranking which occurred during the 2023-24 season.
 
Three-point shooting machine
Chase Johnston broke his 400th career three pointer and ranks 24th all-time among college basketball players with 411. he is four 3-pointers away from passing Steph Curry.
 
Regular Season CHAMPS X3
For the third straight season, HPU won the regular-season title becoming the 1st team in the league to win three straight since Winthrop in 2004-2007.
 
27 Wins in Three Straight Seasons
HPU broke 27 wins becoming the first program in the Big South ever to have three straight 25-plus win seasons.
 
Big South by 90
High Point leads the Big South and is second 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). The league record is 100.9, set by the Keydets in 2006-07. High Point has eclipsed 90 points in 13 of its 30 games, including four consecutive from Nov. 17-29, and 24 of the Panthers' 30 wins have been by double-digits -- 15 by 20+ points and three Division I outcomes by 40-or-more.

Largest Road Wins
HPU defeated USC Upstate & Gardner-Webb on the road by 25 points, marking the largest margin of victory on the road since 2014.

USA Jersey Debut
The Panthers debuted the USA themed jersey's over Family Weekend.

Record Crowd
HPU had 7,202 fans at the game versus Radford for Family Weekend. It was standing room only with people inside the conference room watching on the screen.

Defensive Dynamite
Rob Martin picked up eight steals in the win over Charleston Southern (Feb. 4) which was the 2nd most in a single-game in program history. As a team HPU collected 29 steals which was the third most in Division I era in a single-game.
 
Elite Company
High Point was one of the first two programs with both their men's and women's teams capturing 20 wins so far this season. UConn was the other team to do so.
 
Road Warriors
HPU defeated Longwood on the road for the first time since the 2017-18 season to complete the conference regular-season sweep.
 
Miller Named Freshman of the Week
Caden Miller earned the Panthers' first FOTW honor on Dec. 29. He averaged 8.0 pts, 4.5 rbs & 2.5 blks and registered a season-high 10 points against Pfeiffer. He was recently named FOTW on Jan. 12 after averaging 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
 
Re-Writing the Record Book
High Point's 55-point victory over Gardner-Webb (104-49) was the largest margin of victory over a Division I and a league opponent in Big South Conference history. At the half, HPU led 53-13 which tied for the second-most HPU has scored in the first half and the largest point differential head- ing into halftime against a Big South Conference opponent in program history. The largest margin of victory over a DI opponent has been broken three times during the season, first over Canisius (93-50), then over Bryant (93-47) and now over GWU (104-49).
 
Started Conference Play Right
HPU opened conference play with a 18-point win over UNCA on the road to start conference play, making it the first road win in a conference opener since 2009 for the Panthers and the largest margin of victory in program history to open Big South Conference play on the road.
 
Tied Non-Con Wins
HPU's 12 wins in non-conference tied the program record set during the 2024-25 season.
 
Best Non-Con Record by 1st Year Head Coach
Most wins by a first-year head coach in program history and best win % by a first-year head coach in Big South history.
 
Miller Named Freshman of the Week
Caden Miller earned the Panthers' first Freshman of the Week honor on Dec. 29. He averaged 8.0 points, 4.5 rebounds & 2.5 blocks and registered a season-high 10 points against Pfeiffer.
 
Largest Margin of Victory Over D1 Opponent
With the 93-47 win over Bryant, HPU recorded the largest margin of victory over a D1 opponent. The record has been broken twice during the season, first over Canisius.
 
Largest Margin of Victory
The Panthers defeated the Fighting Squirrels in high scoring fashion, breaking the largest margin of victory record in program history with a 129-47 win. High Point led 66-19 at the half which is the third most points scored in a half and the second largest first-half margin in program history.
 
Most Points Scored in D1 Era
HPU defeated Mary Baldwin, 129-47, registering the most points scored in Division I program history.
 
Hanging 10
Coach Clayman matched the conference record for fastest to 10 wins by a coach in his first year in the Big South. Clayman won his 10th game in his 13th contest, becoming the third head coach to start 10-3 in his first year in the league
 
Martinez the Distributor
Conrad Martinez dished out 11 assists against App State, which was the first time a player has had 10+ assists since 2014, when Haiishen McIntyre produced 10 assists at Clemson. Martinez recorded his first career double-double with 10 points.
 
Boardwalk Battle CHAMPS
High Point won the Boardwalk Battle MTE in Daytona Beach, Florida, winning the program's first MTE since the 2022 season after defeating the University of Incarnate Word 91-80 in the Championship game. Terry Anderson was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Field of 68 MM Coach of the Week
Coach Clayman was named the Field of 68 Mid-Major Coach of the Week after picking up two wins against Furman and Averett.
 
1st Win for Clayman Era
High Point defeated Furman in the season-opener at the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon, 97-71, for first-year head coach Flynn Clayman's first win.
 
Continuing Success After Change
Coming off the most successful season ever for the Panthers after making it to March Madness the team's energy has never been higher. The energy for this season all stems with the new first-year Head Coach Flynn Clayman who was appointed in April of 2025 after serving as the Associate Head Coach under Alan Huss last season.
 
Preseason Awards
High Point was picked again as the number one-ranked team in the Big South Preseason Poll for the second consecutive season and the fifth time in program history (2007-08, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2024-25, 2025-26). Rob Martin and Scotty Washington were picked to be on the First Team All-Conference as well. In the Blue-Ribbon Forecast HPU was picked preseason No. 1 and Martin was selected as the Preseason Newcomer of the Year. In two other preseason polls, High Point was picked fourth in the Field of 68 Mid-Major poll and eighth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Since cracking the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 on December 26, 2023, High Point has remained in the top 25 for 36 consecutive weeks. The highest ranking that HPU received in program history was No. 5 on February 5, 2024.
 
Notable Transfers, Returning Players, and New Freshman
This season, the Panthers have a totally new squad and lineup looking to continue the standard of success they have created after making a tournament appearance. There are eight transfers that have made High Point their new home. Cam'Ron Fletcher, a graduate student who has played at Kentucky, Florida State and Xavier, is bringing experienced veteran leadership to the team. He has already won a transfer award back in 2021-2022 as the ACC Impact Transfer per CBS Sports. Rob Martin who started at Indiana State and then Southeastern Missouri State University, is a senior who also brings some veteran leadership and was named to the Big South Preseason First-Team All-Conference selection. Another leader for the Panthers is Owen Aquino, who is coming to HPU after playing at Eastern Florida State and Liberty, a team that also won its league title and made the 2024-25 NCAA Tournament. Aquino a native of Spain, shares the court alongside Spain native Conrad Martinez, who spent his first two seasons at the University of Arizona. Scotty Washington is a senior transfer that played for CBU and CSUN, where he grabbed a 2024-2025 All-Big West Honorable Mention and was named to the Big South First-Team All-Conference selection. Vincent Brady II and Youssouf Singare are the last two transfers for the Panthers that also help strengthen the new identity and game plan that the Panthers have for this season. Singare transferred from the University of Connecticut and Brady II joins the Panthers from Missouri State University.
 
2024-25 Historic Season
High Point made history during the 2024-25 season by winning its first-ever Big South Tournament title and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. HPU finished with an overall record of 29-6, which tied for the most wins in Big South program history (Winthrop, 2006-07) and the most wins in HPU program history. The Panthers finished the regular season with a 26-5 record and a 14-2 league record. The 26 regular-season wins is the most in program history and tied the Big South regular-season wins record with Coastal Carolina's 2010-11 season (26-4). High Point's offense finished 3rd in the NCAA in KenPom rankings for raw offensive efficiency, trailing only Duke and Gonzaga, and were ahead of 2025 NCAA National Champion Florida.