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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Whenever this dream season ends, the Johnnies will one day look back on it as the best time of their young basketball lives. But losing to Arkansas on Saturday and failing to reach a Sweet 16 would be a cruel ending, because they all want to write a great New York story that will endure forever.

They have brought to life the legendary echoes of yesteryear, of Lou Carnesecca and Chris Mullin, they have exorcised the ghosts of gloom and doom across decades, they have made St. John’s a brand again.

First and foremost, they want to win this for themselves, of course they do, and should.

They want to win this for the name on the front of the jersey.