Wisconsin Badgers and 12th-seeded High Point Panthers are capable of producing one of the highest-scoring games in the NCAA Tournament's opening round when the Badgers navigate the ever-risky 5-12 matchup in West Region action in Portland.

High Point (30-4), the Big South's regular-season and tournament champion, averages 90.0 points per game. That's third in the Division I ranks. The Panthers' 14-game winning streak is the nation's longest active run entering the NCAA Tournament.

Wisconsin (24-10) can score, too. The Badgers average 83.0 points per game, which shares 35th in the nation and ranks as the school's highest-scoring squad since 1970-71.

Speaking of history: In three of the last four NCAA Tournaments, two No. 5 seeds have lost in the first round. But Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has a simple theory about seeds: Forget about them.

"Erase the numbers, that's what I always say," Gard said. "I don't care. When we were a 1, when we were a 2, it wasn't any less nervous knowing that these teams that are in this are very good."

Wisconsin has five first-round losses to a No. 12 seed, most recently to James Madison in 2024, 72-61. Each of the past three trips into the NCAA Tournament when the Badgers were the No. 5 seed, they were one-and-done.

For Gard, the life raft to the second round will be his guards. Always considered essential in the NCAA Tournament, that's a strength for both teams.

Badgers senior guard Nick Boyd, a second-team all-Big Ten pick averages 20.6 points and 4.2 assists. Junior John Blackwell, a third-team selection, averages 19.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Both put up superhuman efforts to win Big Ten games last week. When Wisconsin upset Illinois in the quarterfinals on Friday, Boyd dropped a career-high 38 and Blackwell scored 31 to become the school's first 30-point duo since 1968.

Moreover, Boyd adds valuable NCAA Tournament experience. He started 37 games and averaged 8.9 points for Florida Atlantic in 2022-23, when the Owls reached the Final Four.

"In terms of scoring, in terms of all the rule changes, guard play has become more accentuated," Gard said. "The pace of play universally is up. I think obviously we have really good ones."

Wisconsin could welcome back forward Nolan Winter (13.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and sophomore guard Jack Janicki available after injuries kept them on the sideline during the Big Ten tournament.

Panthers guard Rob Martin averages 15.3 points and 3.7 assists as High Point also has a pair of mobile wings -- Terry Anderson (16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds) and Cam'Ron Fletcher (12.7 points, 6.9 rebounds) -- atop its eight-man rotation. Fletcher is a former Top 75 recruit who began his career six years ago at Kentucky.

Wisconsin has made 400 3-pointers this season, trailing only Alabama (405), and average 11.8 per game to rank fourth in Division I. Six players average at least one make per game. Blackwell (2.8) and reserve guard Braeden Carrington (2.1) lead the barrage, but Wisconsin fires relentlessly and from every direction. Reserve forward Austin Rapp drilled six threes in a 68-65 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament semifinals -- including five on consecutive second-half possessions down the stretch.

The Badgers seemed to coalesce after a 91-88 victory over then-undefeated Michigan in Ann Arbor on Jan. 10, when Blackwell and Boyd combined for 49 points.

They are 14-5 since scoring signature wins over South No. 3 seed Illinois and knocking off West No. 2 seed Purdue and East No. 3 seed Michigan State.

"We've been on an ascension from mid-January," Gard said. "How they've bonded, how their toughness has grown, how their connectivity has grown."

The Panthers also took off in mid-January. They have not lost since a 92-75 loss to Winthrop on Jan. 14, and they avenged that with a 91-76 victory in the Big South tournament final over second-seeded Winthrop.

"The '12' matchup does upset people a lot, and we know that happens historically in the tournament," said Flynn Crayman, High Point's 37-year-old, first-year coach. "We've had 34 games straight of being the favorite, and now I think our group is ready to go out and shoot our shot."

No. 12 seeds Colorado State and McNeese won their first-round games in 2025. Since 1985, No. 12 seeds have won 35.6 percent of the time against No. 5 seeds according to the NCAA Tournament media guide.

--Field Level Media