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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

The Atlantic Coast Conference teams have been disappointing this season. But they are changing that with an exciting start to their conference tournament. The day ended with Notre Dame basketball sending Wake Forest home in spectacular fashion during their first-round matchup.

They won by a phenomenal buzzer-beater and got completely carried away because of their win. During these on-court celebrations, sophomore Elijah Morgan decked his teammate Robby Carmody as he tried to join his teammates from the bench.

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Junior guard Trey Wertz wins it for Notre Dame Basketball

With 10 seconds left, Wake Forest’s Daivien Williamson had the ball. He was having a stellar game, going 8-10 from the field, including an unbelievable 5-5 from three. So they trusted him with the ball when the score was 77-77. But he tried an awkward attempt instead of running down the shot clock, and Notre Dame recovered the ball after a brilliant block by Cormac Ryan.

The sophomore guard charged to score in the dying seconds, before laying it off to Trey Wertz. The junior guard took the three-pointer from almost 30 feet away, before burying it at the buzzer. That was his fourth three-pointer of the game, as he continued his hot streak. He is only their sixth-best player in overall scoring, but he took the opportunity and made the most out of it.

Many fans also noticed how the shot was very similar to the Villanova Wildcats‘ game-winner in the 2016 NCAA tournament final against the UNC Tar Heels.

Fighting Irish successfully complete comeback

In the first half, the Fighting Irish had just 37 points, while giving up 44. Their poor interior defense allowed a lot of points in the paint and a lot of those came after offensive rebounds. The Fighting Irish had a sluggish offense as well, which led to a seven-point deficit at the half.

But in the second half, they showed more urgency. Despite going down by 16 points, they kept fighting and got only their second lead of the game with one minute left. They were up 77-75 before Carter Whitt brought Wake Forest to level terms.

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The teams traded a couple of misses in the last minute before Wertz sealed the deal for Notre Dame. They will now play the Tar Heels tomorrow, in a bid to keep their title hopes alive.

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