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WINSTON-SALEM — In a game that seemed a microcosm of its entire season, Wake Forest staggered past N.C. State 85-78 Thursday night, an outcome that might portend better things to come for the Deacons.

Or it might've just been a good night to be playing N.C. State.

Wake sprinted to an early lead behind the brilliant play of a lot of different players then swooned as it became every man for himself. In the end, as State scrapped to stay in the game, Wake found a reserve that maybe no other team in America has and pulled away to win. With three games left in the regular season, the Deacons are hoping for a similar happy ending to the entire year.

The road will rise to meet Wake again when the 13th-ranked Deacons play at Virginia on Saturday then travel to Maryland before coming home to play Clemson in the last game of the regular season. If all goes to script, the Deacons won't win another game until they come back home.

Now 21-5 and poised for a high seed in the NCAA tournament, the Deacs must first take care of one last nagging problem. Wake has lost its last four road games.

Dino Gaudio said he will remind his players today that to win tournaments it will have to win road games under similar circumstances.

"You're going to have to play in the NCAA tournament on a Thursday evening and then there will probably be an afternoon game on Saturday," he said.

"So we have to look at it like that."

In other words, as Wake plays out its games, they have become seasons in and of themselves.

The first 16 minutes of the game were among the best Wake has played this season, a beautiful display of basketball from some of the nation's best players.

Just as there was a time this year when the Deacs were considered the best team in the nation, a time when they appeared loaded with all-conference players and maybe even the national player of the year, there was a time Thursday night when that team rode again.

James Johnson was brilliant, and center Chas McFarland seemingly returned after a long absence.

Ish Smith was daring and looking all the way back from an offseason injury.

Even with Jeff Teague and freshman Al-Farouq Aminu having off games, the Deacons looked like the team we saw earlier this year.

Then as easily as it came, it all went away.

For some reason, State has the ability to break down Wake from the guard positions.

It has a little to do with the quickness of the Pack backcourt and a little to do with Wake's sometimes slow-to-react interior men.

But State beat Wake in Raleigh two weeks ago and it looked for awhile as if the Pack was getting ready to do it again.

But in the friendly confines of Joel Coliseum, inspired by the noise of the local citizenry and a local motorcycle, the Deacs are hard to beat. Wake has now won 11 straight home games against in-state opponents and hasn't lost at home to another team from North Carolina since the 2006-07 season.

The next two are on the road then after the Clemson game in Joel on the last day of the season, Wake will head to Atlanta for the ACC Tournament and then hope for two games in Greensboro.

Otherwise, the Deacs must figure out how to get back to the feel of those earlier road wins at BYU and the holiday tournament wins in Anaheim, the wins at Boston College and at Clemson.

There was a time when Wake Forest was the best team in America, and until about 8:15 Thursday night, we hadn't seen that team since.

Wake Forest came out in a full-court trapping defense, shook off State's zones and chasers and boxes to take a 39-24 lead with 4:05 left in the first half. It was as though the Deacs had finally gotten back to mid-January, finally gotten Smith back from rehab, finally gotten enough of the many pieces to fit for a long run to post season.

The hard part is always what comes next, and at Wake that's not just the end-of-season schedule or the tournaments to follow but the mid-terms and study halls and projects squeezed into the college road trips.

That's part of the game, and the Deacs will have to deal with all of it in the coming days.

Gaudio said he'll use it as a litmus test for what Wake Forest will face down the long road ahead. And he'll hope to find whatever it was the Deacons lost on the long road behind.

The win over State was like a condensed version of everything up until now.

Wake Forest showed it can yet be the best team in the nation, and with everything else swirling around them, the Deacons decided to focus on that alone.

Wake might be back, or it might just be back to where it was. But either seemed like a good scenario walking out of Joel after a timely Thursday night win.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com