Mark Few
Bruce Pearl

KNOXVILLE — Once an apparent airplane hangar full of mediocre basketball, half-filled seats and black curtains, Thompson-Boling Arena has become a college basketball fortress.

The University of Tennessee men’s program has won 37 consecutive games at “The Tommy Bowl.” Fast-paced action on the court and 21,000-plus frenzied fans have changed a culture to awake what UT coach Bruce Pearl has called a “sleeping giant.”

“We take pride in that — a lot of pride,” Volunteers junior forward Tyler Smith said. “This is one of the toughest places in the country to come play, and we love that. We hope it stays like that forever.

“This is what Tennessee basketball should always be.”

But the nation’s second-longest active home winning streak is in serious jeopardy.

The 15th-ranked Vols (9-3) host struggling but talented Gonzaga (8-4) at 9 tonight on ESPN, and they’re not playing consistently enough in any area to leave Pearl brimming with optimism.

“I’m not worried about my team’s toughness at this point,” Pearl said Monday afternoon. “I’ve been worrying about my team’s toughness all season.”

The Vols have had their moments, beating ranked opponents Georgetown and Marquette on neutral floors. But they also lost at Temple and Kansas, and they barely held on to beat Belmont at home just before Christmas.

And they’ve already lost to Gonzaga this season.

The Bulldogs ran out to a big lead over UT in the Old Spice Classic championship game on Nov. 30, and they withstood a late rally in an 83-74 victory.

“I thought we had a good mentality (in Orlando),” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We attacked their pressure. I thought for the most part we defended the right way. We did the things we had talked to our guys about doing defensively. And that’s slipped, quite frankly, in the last few games.

“And then we made shots. Life becomes easier, as a lot of coaches will tell you, when guys make shots and make plays.”

Gonzaga has also beaten Oklahoma State, Maryland, Indiana and Washington State this season. None of those programs are having campaigns up to their standards, but Few still thinks his team has played “the toughest nonconference schedule in the country.”

That schedule has started biting the Bulldogs. A 69-64 loss to Arizona in Phoenix on Dec. 14 started a streak of four losses in five games.

Gonzaga lost in overtime to fifth-ranked Connecticut on Dec. 20, and close upsets by Portland State and Utah have followed.

“Because of the schedule we’ve played ... we’re knocked back a little bit mentally with our confidence,” Few said. “We’ve got to get that back, and we’ve got to get back to just taking care of business on the glass, and using each other on the offensive end to get each other shots, and then when it’s time, step up and make them. And also, we’ve got to get back to defending the way we were in the Old Spice thing.

“The schedule that we set up was great. It allowed us to get some marquee wins. The flip side of it was if you don’t play A or A-plus in a lot of those games, you’re putting yourself in jeopardy to get beat.”

Even if Thompson-Boling isn’t the same without Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith swishing 3-pointers from 30 feet, Pearl said this inconsistent Vols team still typically plays better there.

“This basketball team has been away from home more than it’s been home by a long shot,” Pearl said. “As you look at some of the big wins that have taken place, a lot of them have taken place at home. This team probably, being a younger basketball team, needs that.

“Now, the home crowd is not going to defend for us. It’s not going to make shots for us. It’s not going to show discipline at both ends of the floor. But it certainly can help.”

Which means it certainly can hurt the opponent. UT and Gonzaga have met three times in the past 13 months — a rarity for programs separated by 3,000 miles — but Few said he doesn’t expect to see the same Vols tonight.

Playing against UT’s relentless pressure will probably help the Zags tonight, but playing in Thompson-Boling might nullify that.

“I think we’re going to face a different entity in Knoxville than we faced in Seattle and in Orlando,” Few said. “Obviously, they’re at home and fired up and are probably going to play at a different level in all aspects of their game.

“No question, the fact that we’ve played them (helps). This is our third game with them in a little over a year. That helps both teams, though. It doesn’t just help us. It helps them, too.”