USC nearly upset No. 2 Auburn. Can Gamecocks’ aggression propel them going forward?

Yeah, this is a story of famous dogs

For the dog that chases its tail will be busy

These are clapping dogs, rhythmic dogs

Harmonic dogs, house dogs, street dogs

Dogs of the world unite

Leading up to Saturday’s 66-63 loss to Auburn, Lamont Paris gathered his squad together at practice and turned on George Clinton’s most popular song. “Atomic Dog” topped the R&B charts for four weeks back in the spring of 1983 — not that any of his players knew that. Or cared.

Paris was not trying to push his players toward a more eclectic playlist. He wanted to deliver a message — a message about dogs and their instincts.

South Carolina (10-6, 0-3 SEC) started SEC play 0-2. It was ugly. First, a 35-point rout at No. 14 Mississippi State, then a 20-point loss on Wednesday to No. 5 Alabama at Colonial Life Arena. The worse part: The Gamecocks lacked passion. The team that last year fought through screens like junkyard dogs ready to take on intruders were playing timid, passive, yielding.

That had to change. So Paris played the song.

Why must I feel like that

Oh, why must I chase the cat

Like the boys

When they’re out there walkin’ the streets

May compete

Nothin’ but the dog in ya

“The message was what it was,” Paris said of “Atomic Dog” in Saturday’s postgame news conference. “Like you’ve gotta come out, man. You’ve gotta play. You gotta be aggressive. That’s what this is, it’s basketball.

“The more aggressive you are, the more the whistle favors you,” Paris continued. ”The more aggressive you are, the more times you find yourself in a good position. The more aggressive you are, the more times you rebound the ball.”

Even in a loss, it seems the Gamecocks found something Saturday. Found a semblance of the identity that propelled them to the most regular-season wins in school history (25) and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Gamecocks played hard — especially on defense. They held an Auburn offense averaging almost 88 points a game to just 66. Yes, Tigers star center Johni Broome left the game in the second half with a sprained ankle, but he only shot 3 of 11 when he was playing.

South Carolina’s big men — forwards Collin Murray-Boyles and Nick Pringle and even centers Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk — turned into rottweilers in the paint. They attacked Broome and Auburn’s towers, pushing them off the block and forcing tough shots.

And then there was the Gamecocks’ offense, led by a transformed Murray-Boyles. The sophomore spent the afternoon looking for contact, treating possessions as a battle of will, a test of physicality. And, well, he won a lot.

The sophomore finished with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting while adding seven boards.

“Just being, overall, way more aggressive,” Murray-Boyles said. “My first two conference games, I wasn’t being myself and being as aggressive as I was in the non-conference (slate). I wanted to turn it up a notch.”

The question now: Did South Carolina truly figure something out Saturday?

Time will tell. Perhaps Paris found something in redshirt freshman Arden Conyers, who played a career-high 30 minutes and scored 13 points. Ditto with Bosmans-Verdonk, who didn’t score but was superb defensively against one of the best frontcourts in America.

Problem is, things don’t get easier. More than half of the SEC is ranked. The Gamecocks’ next two games — at Vanderbilt and at No. 17 Oklahoma — are on the road. And South Carolina’s 10 overall wins are the lowest in the SEC.

All of that creates an uphill battle to make the NCAA Tournament — especially considering the Gamecocks have a Quadrant-4 loss to North Florida on their resume. All things considered, South Carolina probably needs to win seven or eight of its final 15 regular-season games to put itself in position to make the tournament.

Is that possible? Yes. Is it likely? No.

But if nothing else, Saturday provided a glimmer of hope. The Gamecocks hung with one of the best teams in the nation. They out-rebounded Auburn. Scored more in the paint. Heck, they might have beaten them if Pringle had knocked down his two free throws in the final seconds.

Can that translate over the next two months? Can they finish out the season going .500 in the best conference in America? Do they have that dog in them?