The North Carolina Tar Heels opened their men's college basketball season on Monday against Elon at home taking their first win of the year and momentum into this weekend where they took on the top-ranked team in the country in one of the hardest arena's to play in college basketball.

North Carolina was no where to be found in the first half. Whether it was rebounding, defending, shooting, the Tar Heels just weren't in the game. One two players had more than one basket in the first 20 minutes of the game and UNC trailed Kansas by 15 points.

The second half was not all UNC, but they slowly chipped away at the 15-point deficit to lead the game with under five minutes to go after going on a 14-2 stretch. The final three minutes was a back-and-forth game that eventually led to Jalen Washington missing a three, Hunter Dickinson hitting a free throw, and Elliot Cadeau missing a game-tying three.

Here are our instant takeaways from UNC's first loss of the season.

RJ Davis shoots 20% from the field

It is no secret that UNC relies heavily on the reigning ACC Player of the Year, RJ Davis. However, in this loss, the team overcame the shortcomings of the talented guard. Despite the three-point loss, Davis shot just 20% from the field. He was 3-for-15 from the floor and 1-for-7 from three.

The last time Davis shot that bad? The NCAA Tournament loss last year to Alabama.

Foul trouble loomed large

Part of the reason that UNC had to come back from a deficit at all was the foul trouble the group of bigs got in, in the first half. Jalen Washington, Jae'Lyn Withers, Ven-Allen Lubin, and Ty Claude all has two or more fouls in the first 20 minutes of the game and were forced to sit because of it.

As a team, the Tar Heels ended with 21 total fouls including 15 of the 21 from the four aforementioned players. Lubin fouled out with under three minutes to go.

Seth Trimble continues to prove himself

Ever since the rumblings of Seth Trimble improving over the offseason, we have been itching to see how he would perform in the regular season. He came out and dropped 30+ in the exhibition against Memphis which got us even more excited.

He came into Elon and finished with 15 points, two rebounds, and three assists, shooting 3-for-4 from three. Well, that game wasn't a fluke. One of college basketball's most athletic players doubled down against Kansas, leading the team with 19 points and four rebounds, shooting 40% from the field.

The Tar Heels showed heart

The Tar Heels found themselves on the road at No. 1 Kansas and the toughest place to play in college basketball, down 20 in the first half. A lot of teams would have folded and just gone through the motions in the second half.

But not North Carolina. They actually showed a lot of fight in that second half, coming out of the break strong to cut into the lead. After a 14-2 run to give them the lead, the Tar Heels just needed a few stops. While they couldn’t get them, they only lost by three.

Yes, moral losses are tough. But like I said, the Tar Heels made sure they didn’t buckle and gave Kansas all they could handle. This should be a positive moving forward.

Jae’Lyn Withers helped lead the comeback

It’s clear that UNC is going to have some issues in the paint this season, losing Armando Bacon and Harrison Ingram. But they are also going to need others to step up at the three-point line too. On Friday, Jae’Lyn Withers hit some big threes in the second half and made key plays down the stretch.

He’s been an impact player in the first two games of this season and let’s see if he continues to get bette

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire : Instant reactions to UNC basketball's loss to top-ranked Kansas