Kevin Punter put on a shooting show on Saturday and it led to the senior guard delivering the top overall performance of his college career.

Punter made a season-best six 3-pointers as part of a career-best 36-point effort as Tennessee upended No. 24 South Carolina 78-69 on Saturday in Southeastern Conference play at Knoxville, Tenn.

"KP was phenomenal," Volunteers coach Rick Barnes said. "When he got in the flow, you could just see it. He was totally in control of what he wanted to do."

Punter was certainly in charge in the second half, when he scored 27 of his points to lead a strong final 20 minutes by Tennessee (10-9, 3-4 in the SEC).

"When I hit the first (3-point shot), I knew I was feeling it," Punter said. "I hit the second one, and it was like, 'It's over with,' to be honest with you."

Junior guard Robert Hubbs III added 12 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore guard Detrick Mostella had 10 points for the Volunteers.

Tennessee was 10-of-21 from 3-point range -- including 9-of-12 in the second half.

Senior forward Michael Carrera had a season-high 22 points to go with eight rebounds for the Gamecocks (17-2, 4-2). Junior guard Duane Notice scored 14 points and freshman forward Carlos Silva added 11.

Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell, who leads South Carolina in scoring, missed seven of his eight shots and finished with two points. His only basket came with 52 seconds remaining.

"If he doesn't play better, we're not going to win these kind of games," Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said.

Punter twice scored 31 points this season before Saturday's stellar effort, which represents the most points scored by a Volunteers' player since Ron Slay tallied 38 against New Mexico on Jan. 4, 2003.

Punter was 14-of-15 from the free-throw line and 6-of-11 from 3-point range.

"Kevin does what he does; he's a scorer," Tennessee senior forward Armani Moore said. "We got him the ball and he made some tough shots. One thing we look for him to do is shoot and take the shots that he's given. I think he did a great job of shooting the right shots."

South Carolina has split its last four games after a 15-0 start and Martin was highly displeased with what he viewed against the Volunteers.

His team led for only 68 seconds, struggled with its shooting for most of the game and never found an effective way to slow down Punter.

"I knew we were walking into a hornets' nest here," Martin said. "I kind of knew what was coming from Tennessee. I was worried we wouldn't be able to answer the bell."

Meanwhile, Barnes termed his club's performance as the "best 40 minutes of defense we have played all year," as the Volunteers bounced back from an 88-74 loss to Vanderbilt.

"When we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, we're a really hard team to beat," Punter said.

Tennessee made its first seven 3-point shots of the second half to take control.

The Volunteers led by one point at the break and made five 3-point baskets over the first 4:37 of the second half to take a 46-38 lead.

Punter knocked down two of the long-range shots and senior guard Devon Baulkman, freshman forward Admiral Schofield and Mostella each made one.

South Carolina pulled to within 50-45 on a layup by senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas with 11:34 remaining before the Volunteers rattled off eight of the next 10 points.

Mostella scored on a fast-break dunk and Punter drained two more 3-pointers to make it 58-47 with 9:20 to play.

Punter connected on another 3-pointer during a 7-0 burst that saw Tennessee take a 65-53 advantage with 5:19 to play.

The Gamecocks were within six with 2:24 to go after a 3-pointer by Notice and a putback by junior guard Justin McKie, but two missed free throws by Thornwell and a missed dunk by Silva derailed the comeback.

Both teams shot poorly in the first half -- the Gamecocks at 33.3 percent, Tennessee at 31.8 -- as the Volunteers led 29-28 at halftime.

South Carolina led 10-8 on a basket by Silva with 14:28 left in the first half before missing 12 consecutive shots over the next 8:01. The drought enabled the Volunteers to go on an 11-1 burst and open an eight-point lead.

Notice scored five points during a 7-0 run as the Gamecocks moved to within 21-20 with 4:37 remaining.

Tennessee missed its final seven shots of the half but sank eight straight free throws to take a 29-22 lead with 2:51 to play before South Carolina scored the final six points to move within one.

NOTES: The Volunteers made 30-of-32 free throws, including all 16 in the second half. ... Gamecocks junior G Sindarius Thornwell is only 2-of-23 shooting over the last two games. He missed 14-of-15 shots in Tuesday's victory over Ole Miss. ... Tennessee G Kevin Punter has posted three straight 20-point outings and 14 for the season. ... South Carolina has lost 16 of its last 17 games against the Volunteers. The Gamecocks ended a 15-game losing streak by posting a 60-49 victory at Tennessee last March.