BUFFALO — By the end, the supporters of the Providence Friars were doing precisely what their basketball team had done from the opening tap: They were dominating KeyBank Center. They were on their feet, and they were undoubtedly planning sprints to several of the city’s most inviting watering holes to celebrate what they’d seen.

But before they made that pilgrimage, they rose to their feet.

“We want Kansas !” they chanted.

“We want Kansas !” they sang.

“We want Kansas !” they roared.

The Friars faithful will get their wish thanks to what may well have been the most impressive of all of Providence’s 27 wins on the season, a wire-to-wire, tour-de-force 79-51 victory over Richmond that was 7-0 before many of them had settled into their seats, was 39-24 at the half and ended as it did only because coach Ed Cooley emptied his bench at the end.

Providence has been the king of the nail-biter this year, specializing in how’d-they-pull-that-one-out specials, but there was no mystery attached to this one. The Friars shot 52 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from 3-point range, while holding Richmond to 1-for-22 shooting from beyond the arc. That’s 4.5 percent. The crowd at KeyBank might have been predisposed to root for the 12th-seeded Spiders, but it quickly became a moot point.

This was Providence’s night.

In what may well be Providence’s year.

“That was as well as we’ve played all year,” Cooley said, “and we picked the right time to do it. We played with a sense of urgency and a sense of purpose. I’m kind of speechless. I really am. We’re sitting here. We’re still here.”

It is a season of anniversaries at Providence. Thirty-five years ago, the Friars made an out-of-the-sky dash behind Rick Pitino’s coaching and Billy Donovan’s shooting, a joyride that didn’t end until the Friars reached the Final Four in New Orleans. Twenty-five years ago, the Friars pushed Arizona to overtime in the Southeast Region Final; that Wildcats team, eight days later, won the NCAA Tournament.

The Friars haven’t been back to the Sweet 16 since, and Cooley, for all the wonderful work he has turned in at Fairfield and Providence, had never made it to the second weekend. He has gotten there now, and he is bringing a team that absolutely believes it isn’t just capable of beating Kansas — the Midwest Region’s top seed, and next up for the Friars on Friday in Chicago — but, well, anyone else, too.

“When we play like that,” A.J. Reeves said, “I feel like we’re the best team in the country.”

It’s hard to argue after that performance. Five Friars hit double figures, led by Noah Horchler’s 16, but this was as complete a team effort as any coach or any team could possibly ask for. You blueprint beautiful basketball sometimes, but it rarely translates as completely as this did.

“Every night is a different guy,” Nate Watson said, “but tonight it was every guy.”

The maestro was, and is, Cooley, who at 52 is at the top of his game

“I’ve been thinking about this my whole life,” he said.

This was his eighth 20-win season in 16 seasons as a head coach. He completely rejuvenated Fairfield in five seasons. He has done nothing but win in 11 seasons at Providence. And now he has this team. It is his masterpiece, in every way.

“This is stuff you dream about. This is what March Madness is all about,” Cooley said. “I’m very emotional, very grateful, very appreciative.”

He laughed.

“We’re just a little school, people say ‘Ah, Providence!’ ” Cooley said, beaming now. “Well, Providence is in the building.”

The Friars are in the building. They are in the Sweet 16. They saw what Creighton did to Kansas on Saturday, taking the Jayhawks right to the end, and Friday they’ll be in another building, United Center, with a chance to write another chapter in Providence’s deep, rich basketball history.

“Go, Friars!” Cooley said.

Go, indeed. Maybe all the way to New Orleans.