Tam Flarup chronicled all the action from today's game between the Badgers (11-14, 3-9) and No. 18 Purdue (19-5, 8-3) with the live Gameday Blog. The Badgers lost to Purdue 58-48 at the Kohl Center. 

To foul or not to foul in late-game situations might be a hot topic for some college basketball fans, but we have arrived at the time of the season when another matter can be worth observing. Specifically, which teams appear fresh, and which ones appear to be running low on fuel.

Coming off a pair of thrilling, extra-session games last week, a fairly hidden nugget that might have helped the Badgers is the conditioning of those on the floor. Credit the players for their work ethic, and it might not hurt to tip your cap to veteran strength and conditioning coach Scott Hettenbach as well as athletic trainer Henry Perez-Guerra.

Yes, Ben Brust needed to sink his Hail Mary 40-plus footer, but the energy to make that moment possible, while still having the gas to play five more minutes, says something about how this program goes about its business in the weight room and beyond.

In the double-overtime victory against Iowa, five Badgers played 40 minutes or more. Last Saturday against Michigan, Brust played 40. In the two games, he was on the floor 85 minutes. It was at minute No. 80 when Brust ran his curl route and took a perfect pass from Mike Bruesewitz, which led to the buzzer-beating heave.

That was the highlight, but Brust was able to make a little magic after spending  the late morning and early afternoon digging in on defense, which included chasing  some very good shooters. That does not happen without a ton of hard work away from the fans and TV cameras.

For a younger player, it is only natural to hit a wall. Hettenbach admits that can happen, especially with freshmen. Yet his objective during the season is to help players gain strength.

"You are either getting stronger or you are getting weaker," says Hettenbach, now in his 18th year with the men's basketball program. "Our goal is to get stronger. It is too early just to maintain. We will start to try to maintain when we get into the Big Ten tournament and the NCAAs.

"Those last few weeks we will really start to taper back, and just make sure guys have their legs and are fresh."

Let us take a look at a veteran whose hard work and smarts came in handy last week -- Jared Berggren. Against Iowa, the big man logged 43 minutes. As the game wore on, he became better, and ended up with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks. The man was flirting with a triple-double.

Berggren followed that performance with a 13-point, 8-rebound outing against Michigan. In the final minute of regulation -- which would have been about his 75th minute of playing time last week--Berggren rammed his way down the lane for a nasty dunk, which he turned into a crucial three-point play.

Hard to do that if you are low on energy.

Hettenbach says a key for anyone is to be intelligent in your recovery. Berggren is very intelligent.

"When it is time to rest, rest hard. When it is time to train, train hard," Hettenbach said. "He (Berggren) has been around long enough, so he knows his body, and he knows what he needs to do. He is probably one of the more diligent kids we have ever had as far as doing post-workout, post-practice, post-lift recovery.

"Doing all the rehab he needs for his shoulder (an injury he dealt with early in his career) and any other thing that pops up."

Hettenbach says as the season has moved along, Berggren actually has added muscle and lost body fat.

"He is stronger now than he was from the first day of practice. In fact, most of our guys are that way."

Yes, there are seven regular-season games remaining, but given the Badgers' run of three games in six days, with two of those games going to overtime, it only makes sense to believe that conditioning has played an important role in keeping the Badgers in the race.

You still have to make the shots and get the stops, but in the midst of a grueling Big Ten schedule, the Badgers continue to do what is necessary both on and off the court to have a fighting chance.

Tam Flarup chronicled all the action from today's game between the Badgers (11-13, 3-8) and Indiana (10-14, 1-10) with the live Gameday Blog. The Badgers beat the Hoosiers 65-53 at the Kohl Center.

UWBadgers.com chronicled all of the action from Wisconsin's game vs. Notre Dame at the First Pitch Classic in Charlotte, N.C. The Badgers defeated the Fighting Irish 6-5 in 11 innings. The complete blog can be found below.