COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Only once in the history of the NCAA Tournament has a No. 1 seed been upset by a No. 16 seed. Virginia lost to UMBC last year.
For at least one half, it looked like North Carolina would become the second. The top-seeded Tar Heels trailed by five points at halftime after playing one of their worst halves of the season.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, North Carolina coach Roy Williams threw his hands in the air and walked briskly back to the locker room.
But in the second half, the Tar Heels handled their business. They retook the lead after starting the second half on a 18-5 run and never looked back, winning 88-73 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
North Carolina graduate senior Cam Johnson led the Tar Heels with 21 points. He scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half. Freshman forward Nassir Little had 19 points in 17 minutes, and senior forward Luke Maye added 16 points.
No. 1 seeds are now 139-1 against No. 16 seeds.
Williams moves to 29-0 in NCAA Tournament openers at Kansas and North Carolina.
North Carolina (28-6), the top seed in the Midwest Regional, will face No. 9-seeded Washington (27-8) in the second round on Sunday. Washington, which won the Pac-12 regular season title, beat No. 8-seeded Utah State, 78-61, on Friday.
It wasn't a pretty first half for the Tar Heels. They started the game cold, missing 16 of their first 22 shots. Iona led for the majority of the first half, and took a 38-33 lead at halftime. UNC's three seniors _ Kenny Williams, Maye and Johnson _ couldn't get going. They were a combined 6 of 22 in the first half.
As a team the Tar Heels shot 33 percent from the floor. They also committed five first half turnovers, which the Gaels converted into seven points.
Iona (17-16), a team that lives and dies by the 3, was 10 for 21 from behind the 3-point line in the first half.
But the Gaels cooled off in the second half, and the Tar Heels began to heat up.
Johnson started the second half with a 3-pointer to cut the Gael's lead to two points. Roy Williams clapped on the sideline and clinched his fists urging his team on.
The Tar Heels continued their run. A Johnson 3-pointer from the left corner gave the Tar Heels an 11-point lead with 13:10 left in the game.
Two minutes later, Little made a layup while being fouled, increasing the Tar Heels' lead to 16 points. As he got off the ground he screamed "Let's go."
The Tar Heels shot 63 percent from the floor in the second half and cruised to victory.
