The No. 5-seed Wisconsin Badgers are set to battle the No. 12-seed High Point at 1:50 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 19.
The game will air nationwide on TBS, as the 24-10 Badgers look to avoid the dreaded 12-over-5 upset against a Panthers squad that has an overall record of 30-4.
High Point lost just one game in the Big South this year as they finished 15-1 in conference play. Keep in mind that the loss was back on January 14; since then, the team has won 14 straight.
As we approach tipoff, here are three things Wisconsin Badgers fans should know about High Point.
1. The Panthers have won 22 of their last 23 games
High Point cruised to a conference championship, taking down Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, and Winthrop. Those are three teams the Panthers had just beaten in mid-February, but it says a lot that they were able to win the Big South with relative ease.
This team started the season 8-3 with losses against UAB, Southern Illinois, and Appalachian State. Since then, it has been on a tear, with its only other loss coming against Winthrop, the same team it beat in the conference title game.
2. High Point doesn’t have any quality wins
Usually, a mid-major team like the Panthers schedules a few difficult non-conference games to get things going at the start of the year. For High Point, that wasn’t the case. One could argue their most difficult opponent was UAB, a team that plays in the American and finished 20-12 overall.
As previously mentioned, the Panthers lost that game. The Blazers took care of business, 91-74. Just a few weeks later, High Point dropped games to a Southern Illinois squad that finished 16-16 and App State, which went 19-13.
3. High Point’s high-scoring offense doesn’t make up for its poor defense
Sure, High Point has scored up to 129 points in a single game this year, but more often than not, the team has allowed 70+. This first-round matchup could very well turn into a shootout. For once, Wisconsin actually wants to keep a game low scoring.
High Point has allowed 71+ points in all but one of its final five games. The team has allowed 80+ points 12 times this season, and even in their 112-point effort against Gardner-Webb, it still allowed 87 points.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin basketball High Point NCAA Tournament preview
