Prior to leaving for his team’s trip to Las Vegas, UCLA men’s basketball head coach Mick Cronin was asked about his team’s defense and, in particular, it’s ability to defend against 3-point shots.

The now 19th-ranked Bruins entered the Continental Tire Main Event allowing teams to shoot just 18.9 percent (10 of 53) from beyond the arc through the first three games. However, it was against clearly outmatched inferior opponents.

UCLA had no such luck in Sin City.

After blowing a 15-point lead in a loss to then-No. 19 Illinois two days prior, UCLA dropped an 80-75 decision to previous-No. 5 Baylor in the third-place game Sunday at T-Mobile Arena to complete a humbling, winless showing in the team’s first test against Top 25 opponents.

The Bears (4-1), who led by 2 at halftime, made seven of their 10 3-pointers in the second half and converted 20 of 23 free throws for the game. Baylor guards LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler did the heavy lifting, combining for 50 points and each made 4 of 8 3-pointers.

Cronin did not mince words about his team’s defensive performance.

“We’re bad. We’re not good enough to win either game, defensively — and that’s my job,” he told reporters after the game. “ I have known it was coming.

“We’ve worked hard at it. We’re just not there yet. Not against a team like this. We’re just not there yet. Not enough to win the game.”

UCLA (3-2), which trailed by as many as 8 past the midway point of the second half, cut the deficit to 68-67 on a pair of Jaylen Clark free throws with 3:40 to play.

A Cryer 3-pointer and a pair of baskets from Flagler inside the final minute held off the Bruins.

Sandwiched in-between was a turnover by UCLA point guard Tyger Campbell on a steal by Flagler while trailing 72-69 with 1:15 to play.

Still, Cronin said scoring 75 points should result in a win.

“We just shot almost 60 percent against the fifth-ranked team in the country, Cronin said. “We gave up 80 points and let the other team shoot 45 percent. Gave up 80 points.”

Clark posted a double-double, scoring 23 points to go with 10 rebounds to pace the Bruins. It was a bounce-back performance from his showing Friday against the Fighting Illini.

Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s 3-pointer put UCLA up 44-29 with 17:53 to play. However, the Bruins were outscored 50-26 the rest of the way.

Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a game-high 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 8 of 9 on 3-pointers.

As a team, the Fighting Illini made 12 3-pointers. Over the two games, UCLA allowed 22 of 53 (41.5 percent) from long distance.

“This is really simple. They were a lot tougher than us in a lot of areas,” Cronin said. “We wilted. When the heat got turned up and the game got physical, they refused to go away. We caved. That’s my fault.

“We think we are great. The oldest trick in the book — show me the guy that is not humble, and I’ll show you the guy who is getting ready to be humbled.”

Offensively, Campbell and Jaquez Jr. scored 22 and 20 points, respectively, but were both inefficient from the field. The Bruins shot just 37.5 percent from the floor.