Lessons Learned from the UNC basketball program's inch-close loss at No. 1 Kansas

Undersized North Carolina wins the rebounding battle

North Carolina's lack of an elite glass cleaner was always a concern going into the season. Armando Bacot is gone and there isn't any one player that can take over his role on the team. Rebounding was going to have to be a team sport.

Jalen Washington and Jae'Lyn Withers tied for the team lead with nine, bested only by Hunter Dickinson's 10. Freshmen Drake Powell (4) and Ian Jackson (2) also got their noses stuck in. But perhaps the most important rebound came at the end of the first half. With most of the front court already in foul trouble, freshman James Brown came off the bench, fought for a Drake Powell miss, corralled it, and put in a lay-up as time expired.

Turning a 17-point deficit into a 15-point one isn't noteworthy in and of itself. But he showed heart when others would have been hopeless. Whatever Hubert Davis told the team at halftime needs to be put into a podcast and listened to before you go to the gym, take an exam, or clock in to work. The Tar Heels rebounded better than you'd expect (considering the match-up). If they can consistently rebound like this, they will be a tougher proposition to deal with than opposing coaches are expecting.