GREENSBORO, N.C. — Trey Wertz hit a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to cap a 17-2 closing run and No. 11 seed Notre Dame rallied past 14th-seeded Wake Forest 80-77 in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
"As soon as I let it go I knew it was good and it kind of went straight through," Wertz said.
Wertz is a Charlotte native who starred locally at Providence Day School.
"It's definitely surreal," he said. "It's a dream come true. As a little kid just kind of dreaming of playing inthe ACC, and to be able to do that, I couldn't really ask for anything better right now."
Tied at 77, Wake Forest’s Daivien Williamson drove the lane but his floater was blocked by Cormac Ryan, who dribbled the other way to find a trailing Wertz for a winning 3.
Wertz transferred to Notre Dame before the season, after beginning his collegiate career at UC-Santa Clara. His father is longtime Charlotte Observer high school sports writer, Langston Wertz.
"Yeah, my mom and dad were both here,and yeah, I talked to them as soon as I got done off thecourt for a little bit," said Wertz.
Wertz finished with 16 points, and Juwan Durham had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds for Notre Dame (11-14).
Williamson scored 21 points to lead Wake Forest (6-16).
The Fighting Irish move on to face sixth-seeded North Carolina.