Ace Buckner certainly enjoyed his experience of playing in the ACC Tournament for the first time.

The Clemson redshirt freshman guard relished that opportunity Wednesday night, while scoring eight points and adding five rebounds with three assists to help the fifth-seeded Tigers to a 71-62 victory over 13th-seeded Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

“It was fun. It was fun, for sure. Just being able to play in front of fans and my family and with these guys – it’s just a great experience all the time,” Buckner told The Clemson Insider after the game, regarding his first ACC Tournament experience.

Of course, Ace is the son of Clemson legend Greg Buckner, who was a four-year starter for the Tigers from 1994-98 and was enshrined in the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. Ranking fifth on the Tigers’ all-time career scoring list with 1,754 points, he averaged 14.4 points per game. He was a two-time All-ACC selection and the 1994-95 ACC Rookie of the Year.

Greg played professionally for the Dallas Mavericks from 1999-02 and again in 2006-07, the Philadelphia 76ers from 2002-04, the Denver Nuggets from 2004-06, the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2007-08 and the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008-09.

So what has Greg, who is now an assistant coach with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, told Ace about playing in the ACC Tournament?

“He doesn’t tell me too much, honestly,” Ace said. “He trusts in the work I put in with him and what I put in by myself. So, he was just like, ‘Stay confident, just do what you do on a day-to-day basis.’”

Ace was part of a Clemson bench that outscored Wake Forest (17-16) by a 34-20 margin in Wednesday’s game. Clemson hit 10 3-pointers overall, and the reserves did plenty of that damage, combining for six of those triples, including two from Ace. 10 players saw at least 10 minutes of action for the Tigers, with each of them scoring at least three points.

Ace knows it’s unusual to have a team like Clemson does, where nobody cares who’s the star on any given night — all the Tigers (23-9) care about is playing together and getting the win.

“It’s different from any team I’ve been on, for real,” Ace said. “We’ve got 11 guys, 10 guys that can go out and produce every night. So, it’s great to just have that many guys and that many people that can do so many things on the court. It’s hard for teams to defend and prepare for.”

Clemson returns to the court tonight when it plays fourth-seeded North Carolina (24-7) in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Tipoff is slated for 9:30 p.m. on ESPN.