And so it was a Saturday night — last Saturday night — when the Connecticut Sun officially broke their five-year playoff drought. They defeated Dallas before 6,898 fans at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Very, very interesting, as Arte Johnson used to say on “Laugh In.”

Why, you ask?

Because the Sun of 2017 are becoming a test case for whether Connecticut is a women’s basketball state or simply a UConn women’s basketball state.

There are four home games remaining and likely at least one home playoff game for the team that leads the WNBA in scoring, has overcome a battalion of injuries and has more camaraderie than the Von Trapp family.

Hence, the question: Shouldn’t they have drawn a few more than 6,898 last Saturday night, given their seven-game home win streak at the time, entertaining style, young, energetic players and offers of such future promise?

Hmmm. Shall we discuss?

The Sun have always had their LLBs. (Loyal Lower Bowlers). They’re the folks who fill the lower bowl of the arena faithfully. Win or lose. Boring or entertaining. In or out of the playoffs. And they’ve always given The House That Mitchell Etess Built a good feel. Even a tepid crowd, at least number-wise of 5,000, always looks and feels bigger because of the configuration.

Ah, but the Sun’s five-year playoff bagel turned off more casual fans who would likely inhabit the upper bowl. They’re the difference between, say, crowds of 6,000 or 8,000. And it appears the casual fans have yet to return, at least consistently.

Can we blame them? Probably not. Expectations are always high here, both from the residual effect of UConn’s excellence and the Sun’s success under old coach Mike Thibault. Consider they actually fired Coach T after a (gulp) 28-win season. They got bad with alarming quickness in the dreaded Anne Donovan era, where her understated demeanor became an unwitting illustration of what the team would become: unanimated and then unsuccessful.

The upper bowlers began to stay away. Except that the time has returned for them to return. Not only do the Sun have a playoff spot, but they have a number of players who are fun to watch.

Jonquel Jones may break Tina Charles’ single season rebound record this season. She dunked in the All-Star game. And she makes threes. All with a magnetic personality. The fans have taken to Courtney Williams, the speedball guard. Alyssa Thomas leads all WNBA forwards in assists, a testament to the novel concept of sharing the basketball. And Jasmine Thomas, like good wine, has improved with age.

Curt Miller, the coach, has done what he said he would: change the culture. Players and coaches alike enjoy coming to work now — not the case since Thibault left — genuinely appreciating each other’s company. Despite injuries to Chiney Ogwumike, Morgan Tuck, Lynetta Kizer and Jasmine Thomas, they’ve come from 22 down to beat Washington, 11 down to beat Seattle and overcome a “here we go again” start to the season.

Next home game: Friday night against the Liberty. Charles will be here. So will Bria Hartley. Not to mention old friend Bill Laimbeer, who isn’t booed here with anything near the gusto as the old days.

Isn’t it time to return to our roots?

The guess here is that fan support will swell next summer. The effects of newfound success often take time to resonate. But this is a team worth watching right now.

It’s worth noting, of course, that not even UConn fills its buildings anymore, unless there’s a marquee game to be played. Still, the passions run deep for the greatest college athletic program of them all. And while the Sun can’t match UConn’s success historically, they are having a historic summer. All they do is run fast and score a lot, the most in the league.

It’s always a fun night out in Neon Uncasville. A burger before, an entertaining game and maybe a pull of the slot machine after. Sure beats digging ditches. So what do you think? Fill the place on Friday?

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro