As Baylor’s basketball players left James Naismith Court at Allen Fieldhouse following their 74-54 loss Wednesday night to Kansas University, about 60 KU fans lined the tunnel and silently watched the Bears walk to their locker room.

On most game nights, the opposing team would be heckled by a handful of KU students and reminded of the loss it just experienced.

Not Baylor.

It has been that way everywhere the Bears have played this year. At Texas, fans gave them a standing ovation after a 79-57 loss. Since a 91-58 waxing last week from then-No. 10 Oklahoma State, hundreds of supportive e-mails have poured in.

At Kansas, it was polite applause during the game and respectful silence after.

“Fans have really been super where we’ve gone,” first-year Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “For us, that’s our reward.”

Apparently, there’s something that’s just not right about heckling a team after it has been through the drama Baylor experienced last spring. Former player Patrick Dennehy is dead. Teammate Carlton Dotson is charged with the murder. Then-coach Dave Bliss resigned in shame, and the team’s top three players transferred.

That only partially explains the respect Baylor has been shown, however. The Bears have earned it with their play, too.

The program should be in shambles, but it isn’t. Despite playing with just six scholarship players, the Bears aren’t even in last place in the Big 12 Conference. They’re 2-8 in the league and 7-17 overall. That’s more wins than most would have predicted.

Baylor coach Scott Drew argues a call in the second half.

They gave Kansas (16-6, 8-3) a good scare for 30 minutes, too.

“We just kept fighting and fighting. That’s all you can ask for,” said senior forward Terrance Thomas, who led BU with 15 points against the Jayhawks. “We have a lot of heart, even though we’re a small team.”

From the day he took over the Baylor program, all Drew has asked for from his players has been effort and heart. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he always maintained that if his team played hard, people would notice. He knew that was the only way to erase the tarnished image of Baylor’s past and build a foundation for the program’s future.

“We knew talent-wise and depth-wise, wins and losses wasn’t a fair way to judge us,” Drew said. “But if we controlled the effort and played hard, that’s what we were after. For the most part we get that.”

“If we don’t give all we have, then it gets embarrassing. Nobody likes to be embarrassed.”

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Final scores may indicate embarrassment has been the norm for Baylor this season — nine losses have been by 15 or more points — but that hasn’t been the case. Depth has been the problem, not effort. The Kansas game was typical for the Bears: Keep it close for 30 minutes before wearing out down the stretch.

Baylor hasn’t won much, but it has played hard and turned heads in the process. Wednesday night was no different. It was simply Kansas fans’ turn to see the rebuilding effort in progress. Judging by their response, they appreciated the Bears’ fight as much as they loved the Jayhawks’ victory.

“Everyone likes to win,” Drew said, “but if you go around and you’re losing and people aren’t appreciative of at least the hard work, it really makes it tough. I’m just really thankful of how everyone in the Big 12 has treated the team, and hopefully we will honor them with effort and make games competitive.”