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WINSTON-SALEM — Maybe now Ish Smith can get a little shut-eye.

Wake Forest sent seniors Smith, Chas McFarland, L.D. Williams and David Weaver out as winners in their final game at the Joel Coliseum, as a long and winding ACC regular season came to an end with the Demon Deacons' 62-58 victory over Clemson on Sunday night.

McFarland's 11 points, 11 rebounds and sturdy defense on Tigers star Trevor Booker made the difference for Wake (19-9, 9-7 ACC), which snapped a four-game losing streak.

The win came too late to salvage a first-round bye this week at the Greensboro Coliseum, where Wake will be the fifth seed at the ACC tournament and face last-place Miami on Thursday.

But the win just might've saved the Deacs' season. A fifth straight loss would've turned up the volume on whispers of "NIT" instead of "NCAA."

"I couldn't sleep," said Smith, who finished with 17 points and seven assists. "Man, it was tough last night. I was pumped for this game. Any time you lose, you want to play right away. Matter of fact, when you lose, you want to play a grudge match as soon as the game's over.

"It's a relief," Smith added, "and I felt as a team we went out and took it."

Smith's right. Against Clemson (21-9, 9-7), Wake Forest looked like, well, Wake Forest from earlier this season.

"That was our type of game," McFarland said. "... We always try to get to the basket, and whatever's there, we take. We're big down low. We're physical and long. So inside is a good place to start."

When the Demon Deacons are right, when they're at their best, they play tough interior defense, they get out and run in transition, and their half-court offense runs inside-out.

They score on layups and dunks, on short baseline jumpers and drives to the basket. They shoot the occasional 3-pointer, but only after establishing an inside game.

That's what happened against Clemson. McFarland's defense held Booker to six points on 2-for-8 shooting. Wake's leading scorer and rebounder, Al-Farouq Aminu, led the Deacs with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman guard C.J. Harris broke out of a slump, scoring 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

All was as it should be for Wake, a stark contrast to the losing streak. In the four consecutive losses, Wake's three best big men — 7-footer McFarland, 6-9 Aminu and 6-11 Tony Woods — took a combined 65 shots.

Smith, the Deacs' lightning quick point guard, took 65 shots by himself — many of them out of necessity because Wake's offense was so out of sync.

"I thought we did a lot of things well tonight," Wake coach Dino Gaudio said. "I thought we guarded very well. I thought we rebounded the ball very well. ... It was a really good win for us. We had our backs to the wall a little bit, coming off those losses."

And so, in its last chance to right the ship before sailing for Greensboro, the Deacs came through. Wake Forest looks like Wake Forest.

Ish Smith and Co. can rest easier.

Notes: It was a crushing loss for Clemson. With a win, the Tigers would've earned a first-round bye as the third seed in the ACC tournament. Instead, they're the sixth seed and end up playing in the 9:30 p.m. game Thursday against N.C. State. ... Wake senior L.D. Williams, an All-ACC defender, scored four points. He needs 12 more for 1,000 in his career. ... Smith needs four more assists for 600 in his career. He's averaging six per game. ... Booker finished the game with a large bandage covering a cut near his left eye. ... With Booker neutralized, Clemson shot 5-for-25 from 3-point range and point guard Demontez Stitt scored 18 points to lead the Tigers.

CLEMSON (21-9) — Potter 4-9 0-0 11, T.Booker 2-8 2-4 6, Grant 3-7 2-5 8, Stitt 6-12 6-8 18, Smith 5-13 2-2 13, Johnson 2-2 0-0 4, Young 2-9 0-0 5, Jennings 0-1 0-0 0, D.Booker 0-1 0-0 0, Hill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 12-19 65.

WAKE FOREST (19-9) — Aminu 6-15 6-6 18, Weaver 1-1 0-0 2, McFarland 4-5 3-5 11, Smith 7-15 3-3 17, Williams 1-8 2-4 4, Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Harris 5-9 2-2 14, Stewart 0-2 0-0 0, Woods 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 25-59 18-22 70.

Clemson 29 36 — 65
Wake Forest 31 39 — 70

Percentages—Clemson (FG .387, FT .632), Wake Forest (FG .424, FT .818).
3-point goals—Clemson 5-25 (Potter 3-6, Young 1-7, Smith 1-7, Stitt 0-5), Wake Forest 2-10 (Harris 2-5, Williams 0-1, Stewart 0-2, Aminu 0-2).
Fouled out—McFarland. Rebounds—Clemson 33 (Grant 6), Wake Forest 44 (Aminu 12).
Assists—Clemson 9 (T.Booker 4), Wake Forest 11 (Smith 7).
Blocked shots—Clemson 3 (Grant 2), Wake Forest 2 (McFarland 2).
Turnovers—Clemson 14 (Young 4, T.Booker 3, Smith 3), Wake Forest 18 (Aminu 6, Smith 6, Williams 3).
Steals—Clemson 10 (Grant 3, Jennings 2), Wake Forest 11 (Harris 5, Smith 2, Aminu 2).
Total fouls—Clemson 20, Wake Forest 20.
A—14,410.
Officials—Karl Hess, Joe Lindsay, Tim Nestor.