KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From November to late February, Baylor was unbeatable.

The Bears felt that way too, putting away tough opponents and routinely closing out tight road games without flinching.

Now, Baylor has shown signs of being mortal, losing three of its last five games going into this week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at Kansas City’s Sprint Center.

Have those losses dinged the Bears’ confidence as well as its record?

“When you win 23 in a row, obviously your confidence is an all-time high. Then when you lose a couple, your confidence definitely isn’t the same,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said, noting his team hasn’t exactly collapsed.

“At the same time, we haven’t lost two games in a row. We’ve always bounced back.”

Baylor (26-4) will open tournament play Thursday against the winner of TCU (16-15) and Kansas State (10-21), trying to get its mojo back. TCU was one of three teams to knock off Baylor during its recent mini-slide, along with Kansas and West Virginia.

Drew sees a common theme in those three losses and also a nice opportunity with four days off to work on his team, rather than go deep into opponent prep.

“You look at the three games we’ve lost and we haven’t shot it well, we haven’t shot free throws well, and we haven’t defended as well in those three games,” Drew said. “The good thing is we get to spend a couple of days working on us, and we really haven’t had a chance to do that, so hopefully we can improve as a team and get better.”

In its three recent losses, opponents have solved one of the nation’s best defenses for 48.7% shooting. Baylor has shot 41.7% from the field and made 32 of 54 free throws in that time.

Of the three, the most concerning may be the defense, which served as Baylor’s identity during its rise to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 during the season.

Some nagging injuries, particularly to interchangeable part Mark Vital, have played a role.

“We’re all the same guys who had the great defensive stand. It’s not like we’re different guys now,” Baylor all-conference guard Jared Butler said. “It’s all about getting back to the basics.

“At this point, it’s just about who we’re going to decide to be — the 23-game winning streak team or the losing two Saturdays in a row team.”

Sitting next to him on a podium Monday, teammate Freddie Gillespie offered a quick correction.

“Three Saturdays,” he said.

Yes, the Bears are tired of losing.

At the same time, Baylor is assured of a high NCAA seed come Selection Sunday regardless of what’s happened recently and what will happen in Kansas City.

Baylor has an 11-2 record in Quadrant 1 games — what the NCAA views as the most challenging games on the schedule. Only Kansas (12-3), the likely top overall NCAA seed, is close.

“You can’t question what we did in November, December and January,” Drew said.

“If the NCAA continues to look at what they’ve always done, and that’s a full body of work, then we’re going to be a 1 or 2 seed regardless I would think.

“Right now for us, it’s trying to get us back to us playing and winning because that’s a lot more enjoyable than losing.”

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