COLUMBUS, OH – When North Carolina ran off the court as the first half expired Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, its coach was not at all pleased with how his team had played.

In fact, Roy Williams was downright ticked off.

He made a b-line for the tunnel wearing a look combining anger and disgust with his top-seeded team trailing No. 16 Iona by five points in a game the Tar Heels eventually won, 88-73.

Yet, instead of exploding on his team, Williams took a different approach.

“He was actually calm,” Brandon Robinson said. “I was surprised. I thought he was going to come in here and go off on us, but he was calm and told us to keep pushing, go out there and play our game and listen to what (the coaches) tell us.”

Perhaps one reason Williams didn’t feel the need to tear into his team was because one of his players had already done that before the Hall of Fame coach walked into the locker room.

Senior guard Kenny Williams gave his teammates an earful, and it resonated.

“Kenny did a great job being that vocal leader for us, making sure we had our heads up, keeping our spirits high and just telling us to tighten up and get more energy and passion in the second half,” Nassir Little said.

Carolina checked all of those boxes after the intermission.

The Tar Heels tightened up on defense, played with tremendous energy and with clear passion. And it’s passion that really separated the two halves, so say the Heels.

UNC used a 25-7 run over the first 7:46 of the second half to take a 58-45 lead, and while theoretically the Gaels were still in the game it was pretty much over.

Consider that Cam Johnson scored 16 of his 21 points came after halftime, 10 of Luke Maye’s 16 and 11 of Little’s 19 points also came following the intermission. North Carolina had become North Carolina again.

“We didn’t have any passion in the first half (and) we’ve got to want it more,” freshman point guard Coby White said. “Coach said he could coach as hard as he wants to, come in and yell and fuss us out, but it all comes down to us wanting it and having that will to win.”

The game was headed in an entirely different direction before Kenny Williams’ halftime message.

Iona threw off Carolina’s focus by hitting a parade of 3-pointers in the first half, as the Gaels shot 10-for-21 from beyond the arc by halftime. The Tar Heels routinely struggled getting out on shooters and forcing extra passes, which would have played into Carolina’s hands.

Furthermore, Iona’s zone really bothered the Heels. Only 13 of their 40 field goal attempts before the intermission were from the perimeter, but they were more herky-jerky and not fluid. And at one point, it appeared as if the Heels rushed some shots. They just didn’t look comfortable.

Iona led 38-33 at halftime, but everything changed before the Heels returned to the floor for the final period, as Little noted.

“We took it to heart because we didn’t want to go home.”