Associated Press

UVa's Mike Scott (32), fighting for position with Virginia Tech's J.T. Thompson, was 8-of-16 from the field in Thursday's loss.

At the mere hint that Virginia may have choked Thursday night with an ACC victory in its grasp, junior Jeff Jones shook his head and responded, "That's not us."

Maybe not, but the record suggests that this UVa team has a hard time holding onto leads, particularly double-figure leads.

The Cavaliers (12-6, 3-2 ACC) could only hope to be in that position tonight, when they visit North Carolina (13-7, 2-3) for a 7:45 tipoff.

Virginia will be seeking to avoid a third straight defeat after a 76-71 overtime loss to Virginia Tech in a game the Cavaliers led by 10 points with under three minutes remaining in regulation.

UVa has lost leads of 10 points or more in three of its six losses, including a 69-66 setback against Penn State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and a 68-67 loss at Auburn.

Thursday night's collapse was more egregious than either of the previous two games, in which Virginia held 10-point leads in the first half but not thereafter.

On the other hand, it was only 11 days earlier that Virginia had squandered a 16-point, second-half lead before rallying for a 69-67 victory over a UNC Wilmington team that came to John Paul Jones Arena with a 6-11 record.

Moreover, against the Hokies, Virginia held a 12-point lead in the first half, gave it away, built its lead back up to 10 points in the second half and then let that evaporate.

UVa entered Thursday's game ranked third in Division I in fewest turnovers per game (10.29) but had 16 turnovers against the Hokies.

"It's uncharacteristic," said guard Sammy Zeglinski, who had four turnovers.

Zeglinski's field goal with 1.3 seconds remaining sent the game into overtime at 65-65, and Zeglinski added another 3-pointer in overtime, but those are his only field goals in the last two games.

Obviously, some or most of that could be attributed to Virginia Tech's defense. Much is made of Bennett's "Pack Line," but he is no more committed to defense than the Hokies' Seth Greenberg.

But, the fact of the matter is better time management on the Cavaliers' part would have made it next to impossible for the Hokies to overcome a 10-point deficit.

Heck, Tech made it look easy. When Malcolm Delaney stepped to the free-throw line with 2:57 remaining, the Hokies trailed 62-52. Following a Dorenzo Hudson 3-pointer with 1:36 left, Tech had trimmed the deficit to 62-61.

At a time in the game when UVa should have been holding the ball, Tech went on a 9-0 run during a 1:21 span and did not commit a foul in the process.

"We almost didn't need a field goal to win that," Bennett said. "That's when we needed to milk the clock. I felt some of the decisions down the stretch cost us. Eleven turnovers in the second half is hard to overcome."

The turnovers led to Tech fast breaks and Bennett bemoaned his team's porous transition defense.

"When our defense was set, for the majority of the game, it was hard for [the Hokies] to score," he said.

The turnovers came at a time when Virginia had switched to a four-guard lineup in hopes of improved ball-handling. However, the Cavaliers couldn't even get the ball in-bounds after the Delaney free throws with 2:57 left.

UVa freshman guard Jontel Evans did a nice job on Delaney early, but Evans did not score in 16 minutes of playing time. Reserve post player Will Sherrill did a nice job in tipping some loose balls, but Sherrill did not attempt a shot in 15 minutes.

Sylven Landesberg and Mike Scott each went 8-of-16 from the field, but the Nos. 3-5 scorers on the team -- Zeglinski, Jones and Mustapha Farrakhan -- were a combined 6-of-19.

Jones missed both ends of a late two-shot opportunity and Landesberg missed both of his free-throw opportunities, including a one-and-one. The Cavaliers shot 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the line after hitting 74.9 percent of their efforts before Thursday.

"When they're going in, it makes it a little easier to win down the stretch," Bennett said.

Bennett used eight players, a season low, against the Hokies. Calvin Baker was in uniform after missing a trip to Wake Forest as the result of a coach's decision but did not play Thursday. Neither did 7-foot sophomore Assane Sene.

Baker and Sene both started when the Cavaliers beat the Hokies 75-61 late in the 2009 season and played 28 and 22 minutes, respectively.

Jamil Tucker, dismissed earlier this season for academic reasons, had 13 points and nine rebounds in that game.