The Wisconsin Badgers were 3-9 in conference play after a disappointing road loss to the Maryland Terrapins in early February.

Although the injuries to guards D'Mitrik Trice and Kobe King occurred roughly two months prior, the team's record continued to plummet. It was evident Wisconsin did not have an answer for its depleted backcourt, struggling offense and often-devastating defensive lapses.

However, as the evidence suggests, those wounds never fully healed. The Badgers (15-18) finished outside the top four in the Big Ten and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.

Amidst a season of so many lows, Wisconsin could have easily quit.

But, as many current players, alumni and followers of the University of Wisconsin men's basketball program know, that is not the Wisconsin way.

Under former UW head coach Bo Ryan, the approach was simple: play hard, practice harder and earn your spot. Names like Zak Showalter, Josh Gasser and Frank Kaminsky and were almost unknown the first year they players stepped on campus. Now, their highlight plays -and Kaminsky's jersey - will forever have a place in the Kohl Center.

Powered by that culture, Wisconsin made two trips to the Final Four and won 364 games with Ryan at the helm. And when it was time for Ryan to step aside, he knew the program would be left in good hands.

"Greg is ready, the staff is ready, all the way through, and I feel really good about that. His record as an assistant coach, I told the team that there are people that have received head coaching jobs who were assistants at places, without anywhere near the record that he has," Ryan said back in 2015. "Not even close. I won't name those people for you, I think you get the idea. There's nobody more prepared than him."

Although the baton was officially handed off to Greg Gard, it was hard to miss Ryan's continued influence on the program. In Gard’s first season (2016-17) as the full-time head coach, Wisconsin was carried by Ryan’s seniors. The team won 23 games, appeared in the Big Ten tournament title game and eventually fell short in the Sweet 16.

“They’ve just got to carry the torch, like everyone before us,” former Badger Bronson Koenig said of UW's young talent moving forward. “They set the example of what to do and how to do it every single day...that is what this program is all about.”

Wisconsin's 84-83 loss to Florida in 2017 was the last time that the roster essentially composed of Ryan's players.

It was time for many unfamiliar faces to prove their worth.

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Whether a team is rebuilding or restocking, you expect winning to follow. That feeling is common for many fans in major collegiate sports programs, but it feels heightened at the University of Wisconsin.

And maybe that is why the 2017-18 season was so tough to swallow.

“It stings,” freshman Brad Davison told reporters after UW's 63-60 loss to MSU on Friday. “I came here and I wanted to be a part of that Wisconsin tradition. You feel like you kind of let people down.”

Yet, Davison and co. shouldn't feel like they let anyone down. Even though it wasn't the season Wisconsin fans wanted, the team's perseverance manifests the spirit of Wisconsin basketball.

For starters, the prosperity of Badgers basketball relies heavily on player development. This season, a young core of freshmen players - Davison, Nate Reuvers and Aleem Ford - filled larger roles and gained valuable experience that will assuredly reap benefits come next season.

Additionally, junior Ethan Happ cemented his status as one of the best players to ever don the red and white, finishing as the team's leader in nearly every statistical category all while adjusting as a veteran on one of the youngest squads in the BIG Ten.

A positive team culture doesn't just appear out of thin air. It must be repeated during practice, in the locker room and whenever a coach finds an opportunity rely a message.

Of course, with these messages comes the importance of faith.

“You’ve got to keep the faith. You’ve got to have confidence. When you lose the faith, when you get discouraged, that’s when it gets tough," Davison said in early February. "We’re not going to do that. We’re going to keep working. We’re going to keep pushing, keep trying to improve."

As Davison suggested, the Badgers kept the faith. Wisconsin won five of its final eight games and was an entirely different team in comparison to the first half of the season. Not only did UW see big strides from Khalil Iverson and Brevin Pritzl, the Badgers looked like an NCAA tournament team.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that faith requires belief. At times, it was clear many Wisconsin fans did not fully believe.

That is why it is so fitting that these Badgers made 'em.

RELATED NEWS: Reflecting on Wisconsin's season

Forget the sub-.500 record.

Forget the images of players hanging their heads and biting their jerseys.

What matters is that Wisconsin was lost, then found its way back. This year, the Badgers were tested in almost every way possible but found a way to turn the bad into something good.

It took quite an effort from Gard and his team to finish where they were. Looking back, it is difficult to recall another season when so much went wrong for UW as it did this year.

"This group kept persevering and battling and getting better," Gard said after losing to the Spartans on Friday. "And unfortunately we didn't have enough today nor enough earlier in the year to be able to keep playing in the NCAA Tournament, which I know everybody in that locker room that was the goal was to try to win this thing to get there.''

Battling. Persevering. Getting Better. Those are characteristics that have stuck with the program since its inaugural season in 1898 and continue to represent Wisconsin roughly 120 years later.

If this season teaches us anything, it should be that without the pain of losing, there would be little enjoyment in winning.

And if that doesn't get you excited for next year, you haven't watched enough Badgers basketball.