COLUMBIA, S.C. -- At home in your living room, you, the Tennessee hoops fan, probably jumped out of your chair when Dane Bradshaw hit the 3-pointer with 31 seconds to play.

What the TV camera probably missed at the final horn of UT's 76-69 win Sunday was Bradshaw turning to the South Carolina student section and giving a military salute before he ran off the court.

From the opening tip-off at the Colonial Center, a leather-lunged young man of college age clad in a Gamecocks t-shirt was riding Bradshaw and Major Wingate.

Wingate was an obvious heckler's choice. The South Carolina native spurned the Gamecocks to play for the Vols.

But why Bradshaw?

"He's the only short white kid starting,'' Wingate explained with a laugh.

Guess what the short white kid did in the Vols' SEC opener?

"He outplayed everybody on the court today,'' said Wingate.

"Everybody underestimates Dane. Nobody understands that Dane has the biggest heart on the team, probably in the SEC.

"He loves it when people underestimate him.''

South Carolina underestimated him. No way the scouting report figured on 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists by a 6-foot-4 guy playing out position at power forward.

And get a load of this stat -- in the past six games, spanning 150 minutes of court time, Bradshaw is responsible for 27 assists and zero turnovers.

For sure, South Carolina's heckler underestimated him.

At first it was just, "Hey, Bradshaw.''

Over and over.

At one point, Bradshaw turned to the heckler and responded.

"I just ask him to be a little more original,'' Bradshaw said later. "Maybe talk about a missed free throw or something.''

To his credit, the loudmouth stepped up his game.

After Bradshaw opened the second half with two layups, the cry came:

"Bradshaw, the only thing you can make is a layup.''

So, with 16:04 to play and Tennessee trailing 40-30, Bradshaw drilled a 3-pointer.

Response: "Bradshaw, go back to Memphis.''

By that point, the Vols were in the throes of a full-speed rally. The heckler didn't have a lot to say as one 3-pointer after another drained through the net.

The most amazing of them was the one Bradshaw hit to virtually clinch the win.

The score was 71-67 UT. Bradshaw set a screen and then popped free in the corner, where C.J. Watson hit him with the pass.

Standing in front of the Tennessee bench, Bradshaw let her rip.

My first glance was to the shot clock -- 10 seconds left. What was he thinking?

"I was like, 'Oh, no!' I thought it was a bad shot in my mind,'' said teammate Chris Lofton.

Coach Bruce Pearl thought it was a great shot. A mandatory shot.

"Wide open shot,'' said Pearl. "Oh, my god, I'd have killed him if he turned that one down.

"South Carolina is playing good defense. ... Was anybody going to get a better look than that?''

Here, in a nutshell, is a three-step difference between Tennessee last year and Tennessee this year.

One, that Bradshaw took a 3-pointer with 10 seconds on the shot clock inside the final minute.

Two, that he hit it.

Three, that even before the ball went through the net, Bradshaw turned to the UT bench and, arms extended, gestured: How about that one, boys?

"There's a lot of confidence here with the players from our coaching staff,'' Bradshaw said.

"The confidence of the team is by far the best since I've been here.''

Sunday, that snowballing confidence produced one astounding come-from-way-behind victory.

And it left a young heckler standing courtside as if in a daze. Trying to comprehend not only that the Vols were capable of such a thing, but that it was that Bradshaw guy who stuck the dagger.