BLACKSBURG -- Deron Washington's new hairstyle was a surprise.

His team's play in overtime was not.

Virginia Tech won an ACC game in overtime for the third time this season, defeating Virginia 72-65 on Saturday at Cassell Coliseum.

The Hokies improved to 3-1 in OT, including a 70-69 win at UVa last month.

"We know we can play in overtime," said Deron Washington, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Tech. "We have guys that step up."

"Teams don't want to go overtime with us," point guard Hank Thorns said. "We just come out and play hard, with confidence, and no doubt we're going to win."

The Hokies (14-8, 5-3), who won for the sixth time in eight games, remain in third place in the ACC.

"It's kind of surprising," Washington said.

Washington surprised coach Seth Greenberg in the morning shootaround with his new, close-cropped look. His dreadlocks are gone.

On Friday night, Washington's girlfriend, Britney Anderson, and teammate Marcus Travis cut off most of his hair and gave him a mini-Mohawk.

"I just wanted something different," said Washington, who was 3-of-14 from the field. "I got tired of keeping up with the hair.

"I wanted to shock everybody. I came in the gym ... and Greenberg's just in shock. ... He stood for 30 seconds with his mouth open."

The last-place Cavaliers (11-9, 1-6) lost for the seventh time in eight games.

"We're down right now," said Jamil Tucker, who had 10 points for UVa. "Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the league."

UVa suffered its third OT loss in ACC play this season. Tucker again saw a difference between his team and the Hokies in overtime.

"It was just a mind-set [for Tech], being able not to break down in crunch time," Tucker said.

This is the first time Tech has recorded back-to-back wins in the series since the Hokies beat UVa in January 1975 and January 1976. It is the first time Tech has beaten UVa twice in the same season since 1968-69.

"We're improving every day, and the hard work is paying off," said A.D. Vassallo, who had 14 points for Tech. "It definitely feels great to sweep UVa."

UVa coach Dave Leitao said the Hokies were more aggressive in OT. Tech began pushing the ball up the court after having been mired in their half-court offense most of the day.

After UVa's Sean Singletary (26 points) missed a layup at the beginning of OT, Jeff Allen (12 points) scored to give Tech a 56-54 lead. After Tucker missed a layup, Vassallo dunked for a 58-54 lead.

Later, after UVa's Adrian Joseph shot an air ball on a 3-point attempt, Allen dunked for a 62-56 lead. Vassallo blocked a shot and Thorns made a layup to extend the lead to 64-56 with 1:41 left in OT.

UVa shot 35.8 percent from the field, including 2-of-11 in OT.

The Hokies shot 39.3 percent from the field, including 3-of-14 from 3-point range, but outrebounded UVa 43-33.

"These kids play so hard," Greenberg said. "They might throw it in the ocean, they might kick it out of bounds, ... but they play so hard.

"We're not aesthetically attractive here. We're like 'Ugly Betty' in a lot of ways, probably, but we kind of find a way to get it done."

The Hokies went on an 8-0 run late in regulation to grab the lead for the first time since early in the second half.

Lewis Witcher (10 points) dunked to cut the deficit to 50-49. Vassallo capped the run with a 3-pointer to give the Hokies a 52-50 lead with 1:34 left in regulation.

UVa's Mamadi Diane made a jumper to tie the score at 52 with 1:17 left.

Washington got the rebound after Singletary missed a 3-pointer. Vassallo missed a layup, but Washington got the rebound and slammed the ball in to give Tech a 54-52 lead with 14 seconds left in regulation. It was his only basket of the second half.

Singletary sank two free throws to tie the score at 54 with 7.9 seconds remaining. After Thorns missed a layup, J.T. Thompson missed a stickback at the buzzer.

Singletary, who had 34 points in the first meeting, scored 12 first-half points Saturday but was 0-for-5 from the field in the second half. He had 10 points in OT despite again being hampered by a hip pointer.

"I just wanted to keep him under 30 so I didn't get another e-mail from [ex-Hokie] Jamon Gordon," Greenberg said.

Virginia MP FG FT R A F PT

Joseph 42 3-9 0-0 8 3 3 8

Scott 28 2-5 5-7 3 0 3 9

Baker 29 0-2 0-0 2 4 4 0

Diane 36 2-8 3-7 4 0 3 8

Singletary 37 6-15 11-14 5 2 4 26

Jones 14 0-2 0-1 1 0 3 0

Farrakhan 5 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0

Tucker 17 4-7 0-0 5 0 1 10

Pettinella 15 2-3 0-0 1 0 5 4

Meyinsse 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 0

Totals 225 19-53 19-29 33 9 30 65

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Allen 28 4-6 4-8 6 0 3 12

Washington 43 3-14 9-14 12 3 3 15

Vassallo 27 5-9 1-2 2 1 4 14

Thorns 30 1-5 3-6 2 4 3 5

Delaney 39 3-9 4-4 5 1 5 10

Bell 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Hudson 10 0-2 0-0 0 0 2 0

Witcher 15 3-6 4-4 4 0 1 10

Thompson 27 3-5 0-0 7 0 3 6

Diakite 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Totals 225 22-56 25-38 43 9 24 72

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

Virginia 26 28 11-- 65

Virginia Tech 25 29 18-- 72

3-point goals: Virginia 8 -21 (Joseph 2-6, Baker 0-1, Diane 1-4, Singletary 3-6, Farrakhan 0-1, Tucker 2-3), Virginia Tech 3-14 (Washington 0-1, Vassallo 3-5, Thorns 0-3, Delaney 0-4, Hudson 0-1).

Turnovers: Virginia 15 (Baker, Singletary 3), Virginia Tech 12 (Thorns 3).

Blocked shots: Virginia 2 (Joseph 1), Virginia Tech 4 (Thompson 2).

Steals: Virginia 5 (Joeseph 1), Virginia Tech 4 (Thompson 1).

Officials: Jamie Luckie, Ray Natilli, Tim Kelly.

Attendance: 9,847.