Photo courtesy WVU Athletic Communications WVU guard Honor Huff launches a 3-pointer during Sunday’s loss to Xavier.

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s defensive reputation took a second consecutive beating Sunday, at the Charleston (S.C.) Classic.

This time it was from downtown, as Xavier tied its season high with 16 3-pointers in a 78-68 victory against the Mountaineers inside TD Arena.

“We allowed them to establish a comfort zone and a rhythm offensively,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said on his radio postgame show.

He wasn’t kidding.

The Musketeers (4-3) erased an early eight-point deficit in the first half by shooting 8 of 13 from 3-point range and ended the half with a 7-0 run for a 36-28 lead at the break.

Xavier didn’t slow down in the second half.

Whenever the Mountaineers (5-2) made a threat to get back into the game, Xavier’s sharpshooters came back with an answer.

That came via Jovan Milicevic forcing up a three from the side with the shot clock nearing zero, only to rattle it home or Filip Borovicanin banking home another 3-pointer after WVU had just cut the deficit to six points with 3:56 remaining.

“We weren’t impactful enough on the defensive end of the floor, and they were able to move the ball freely and find the open man,” Hodge said. “When they found the open man, they didn’t miss.”

Xavier added another eight 3-pointers in the second half – Milicevic and Tre Carroll each ended the game with five of them – and the Musketeers never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 13 in the final moments.

Xavier’s 16 3-pointers tied the single-game record for the most ever made against West Virginia.

“That’s what happens when you allow someone to feel comfortable,” Hodge said. “They had seen the ball go into the net so many times. We couldn’t string enough stops together consistently.”

That was sort of the theme for WVU over its two games in the event. In winning their first five games of the season, the Mountaineers had begun to build up a defensive presence, one that was ranked fourth in the country in points allowed.

Those first five wins all came in Morgantown, but it was a completely different story on the road in South Carolina.

Clemson shot 46% and did most of its damage on the inside in a 70-67 victory on Friday. Xavier went from the outside, as Milicevic finished with 21 points and Carroll added 17 more. The Musketeers shot 45.5% (25 of 55) overall from the field. WVU hadn’t allowed an opponent to reach 40% shooting prior to hitting the road, but Xavier and Clemson blew right past that number.

In the four-team field of WVU, Xavier, Georgia and Clemson, the Mountaineers were the only ones to return home without a victory.

Hodge didn’t put all of that on his defense, because the Mountaineers had a physical advantage on the inside against Xavier they could not consistently take advantage of. West Virginia came away with a 13-2 advantage in second-chance points, but WVU big man Harlan Obioha was held in check with just three points and two rebounds.

“We had an advantage physically, but we weren’t able to establish that,” Hodge said. “That’s where the disappointment comes on my end. They hit some tough shots, but we missed 33 shots and really only had three offensive rebounds. We had seven for the game, but two of them were team rebounds and Trey (Eaglestaff) got two at the very end.

“We go down the stat line and (Brenen Lorient) played 30 minutes and had no offensive rebounds. Harlan played 15 minutes and had no offensive rebounds. That was supposed to be our advantage over them.”

About the only real plus for WVU was the play of Eaglestaff, who scored a season-high 20 points to break out of an early-season slump. He was 0 for 5 from 3-point range, but Eaglestaff finished 8 of 15 shooting and added five rebounds and four assists.

“He was aggressive and got downhill,” Hodge said. “He was physical with his drives and made some simple plays.”

Honor Huff scored all of his 16 points in the second half and Lorient added 11 for WVU, which will have a week off before hosting Mercyhurst next Sunday, at the Hope Coliseum.