ALBANY, N.Y. – Ebi Ere was Oklahoma’s forgotten man. Not anymore.

Ere, playing with a broken bone in his left wrist, scored 25 points as the top-seeded Sooners ended Butler’s surprising run with a 65-54 win Friday night in the semifinals of the East Regional.

Oklahoma (27-6), Big 12 champion for the third straight year, is one step from its second consecutive Final Four.

Butler (27-6), regular-season champions of the Horizon League, was the lowest-seeded team left in the tournament after pulling off two big upsets. The 12th-seeded Bulldogs edged fifth-seeded Mississippi State 47-46, then beat fourth-seeded Louisville 79-71.

The only 12th seed ever to advance to a regional final was Missouri, which beat No. 8 UCLA in the round of 16 last year before losing to No. 2 Oklahoma in the West Regional final.

Butler lost because it never got its perimeter game going against the active Oklahoma defense, which held the Bulldogs to 4-of-13 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.

The screens that had worked so well before never clicked, and Butler had to go inside to score. And when the Bulldogs missed, there weren’t many second chances – Oklahoma dominated the glass 39-21, including 19 offensive rebounds.

Senior center Joel Cornette led the Bulldogs with 21 points and eight rebounds. Darnell Archey, who hit eight 3-pointers in the win over Louisville, scored six points and attempted only three 3s. Duane Lightfoot, Butler’s other big man, had eight points and Brandon Miller and Mike Monserez each had seven.

Butler was more worried about Hollis Price, the Sooners’ leading scorer who was nursing a tear in his left groin. Oklahoma made it to the round of 16 with virtually no production from Price, who averaged 19 points during the season.

Texas 82, Connecticut 78

SAN ANTONIO – Texas was in trouble. T.J. Ford was on the bench and the Longhorns’ lead had slipped away.

No matter, the little guy was there at the end and top-seeded Texas is on to the South Regional final after an 82-78 win over Connecticut on Friday night.

Brian Boddicker also made a big play, blocking Marcus White’s layup attempt that would have tied it with 35 seconds left. The ball got wedged between the rim and the backboard, and the possession arrow went Texas’ way.

So did the rest of the game.

Texas had watched a 14-point second-half lead evaporate, with UConn taking the lead with just over five minutes

left.

Ford, the Longhorns’ stellar point guard, returned with four fouls and once again worked his magic, assisting on the final plays down the stretch that made the difference.

Ford’s two free throws with 11.8 seconds left provided the final points and he stripped Emeka Okafor at the other end before sprinting up court as the final seconds ticked off.

Brandon Mouton scored a career-high 27 points and Ford had 13 points and nine assists for the Longhorns (25-6).

Okafor had 21 points and 17 rebounds for UConn (23-10).

Texas advanced to the round of the eight for the first time since 1990. All four top seeds are in the regional finals.

Texas had taken the game’s biggest lead at 62-48 behind a 3-pointer and a baseline jumper by Mouton. UConn immediately responded with an 8-0 run that cut it to 62-56 and sent Ford to the bench with his fourth foul with 10:30 left to play.

After a timeout, Texas committed a turnover, Ben Gordon hit a 3-pointer and two free throws by Okafor cut it to 64-61.

Mouton hit a 3-pointer to temporarily stem the rally before the Huskies cut it to 67-65 on four straight free throws.

Syracuse 79, Auburn 78

ALBANY, N.Y. – Syracuse hung on instead of coming back and the Orangemen are suddenly the only Big East team still around.

Freshman Carmelo Anthony scored all 18 of his points in the second half and the third-seeded Orangemen beat 10th-seeded Auburn 79-78 Friday night in the East Regional semifinals.

There was no need for another comeback this time as the Orangemen (27-5) moved on to the round of 16 for the seventh time overall and fourth under coach Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse will play top-seeded Oklahoma on Sunday with the winner advancing to the Final Four. The Sooners (27-6) beat 12th-seeded Butler 65-54 Friday night.

The four teams from the Big East in the field of 65 went 8-0 in the first two rounds, but Syracuse was the only one to win on the second weekend of the tournament. Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Connecticut all lost in the round of 16, leaving the Orangemen as the league’s only remaining representative.

Syracuse rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat Oklahoma State in the second round, marking the 14th time this season the Orangemen came back to win.

There was no need for that this time, although this victory wasn’t a sure thing until the final ticks as the Tigers (22-12) hit four 3-pointers over the final 1:18.

Mich. St. 60, Maryland 58

SAN ANTONIO – Once again, Maryland got a last-second chance to hang onto its national title. But when Steve Blake missed at the buzzer, the Terrapins’ reign was over.

Freshman Paul Davis hit a leaning bank shot with 4.7 seconds left and Michigan State defeated the defending champions 60-58 Friday night to advance to the South Regional final.

The senior-led Terrapins overcame a 13-point deficit with 8:07 left, taking a lead in the final minute. Davis’ powerful dunk tied with 50.6 seconds left, and he put the Spartans ahead when he muscled along the baseline for the go-ahead basket.

Blake then took the inbounds pass and dribbled up the floor to the top of the key. He got a good look at the basket, but the ball hit the back iron and bounced away.

After beating North Carolina-Wilmington on a last-second shot in the first round, the Terps seemed convinced this one would fall, too. When it didn’t, they stood slump-shouldered and stunned as the Spartans wildly celebrated their eighth win in nine games.

Davis had a team-high 13 points to put Michigan State (22-12) a win away from its third Final Four in four years, an incredible feat for a team that was 14-11 on Feb. 23.

The seventh-seeded Spartans, the lowest seed left in the tournament, will play Sunday against top-seeded Texas. The Longhorns advanced by beating Connecticut 82-78.

The Terrapins (20-10) were the only team that made the Final Four the last two years – and the only one to even make the regional finals both times.

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AP-ES-03-29-03 0038EST