Duke goes home

Duke lost control. North Carolina put it all together. It wasn't supposed to happen that way for the Atlantic Coast Conference powers.

Florida knocked off top-ranked Duke 87-78 on Friday night in the East Regional semifinals in Syracuse, N.Y., and resurgent North Carolina beat Tennessee 74-69 in the South Regional in Austin, Texas.

Ed Cota led a late comeback, and the eighth-seeded Tar Heels held the fourth-seeded Volunteers without a field goal for nearly the last seven minutes. North Carolina entered the NCAAs with eight losses in its previous 15 games, while Duke earned the top seed in the East by winning the ACC tournament.

''At the beginning of the year, I had some high expectations for this team, and we kind of let our fans down and ourselves down,'' Cota said. ''Now, we've picked up our game.''

The Tar Heels, in the final eight for the sixth time in 10 years and 21st overall, will play seventh-seeded Tulsa on Sunday. The Golden Hurricane beat sixth-seeded Miami 80-71.

''I wish we could relax and enjoy it, but we have to get ready for Tulsa,'' North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge said.

Florida's Brett Nelson scored 15 points and the Gators closed with a 13-0 run to end Duke's 26-game winning streak in the East Regional.

''This has been as gratifying of a year as I've ever had,'' Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ''If you expect me to feel bad, you're crazy. What a journey my kids have given me.''

Duke's loss left only one remaining top seed, Michigan State in the Midwest. Arizona was knocked out in the second round in the West, and Stanford was eliminated in the second round in the South.

Fifth-seeded Florida (27-7) will play third-seeded Oklahoma State on Sunday.

''We're really excited,'' said Nelson, who hit three 3-pointers and had four assists and only one turnover.

''Duke was the No. 1 team in the country. To beat Duke is a great feeling. But we have to focus because we want to reach the mountaintop. We have a few more games to do that.''

Oklahoma State beat 10th-seeded Seton Hall 68-66, making it a clean sweep of the three Big East teams in the final 16.

The Big Ten has three teams in the final eight, led by conference tournament winner Michigan State. The Spartans will play second-seeded Iowa State tonight in the Midwest final in Auburn Hills, Mich., and sixth-seeded Purdue will face eighth-seeded Wisconsin today in an all-Big Ten West final in Albuquerque, N.M.

Florida 87, Duke 78

Brett Nelson scored 15 points for Florida (27-7) and Mike Miller added 10, including four late free throws.

Duke (29-5) failed to advance to the Final Four for the fourth time in the last five years after making six appearances and winning two titles in a seven-year stretch.

The Blue Devils were 3-for-19 from 3-point range after going 2-for-17 against Kansas in the second round.

Shane Battier led Duke with 20 points, 15 in the second half. Chris Carrawell added 16 points.

Duke, which went five minutes without a basket in the first half, missed six 3s and didn't make a basket in the final 4:45.

Oklahoma St. 68, Seton Hall 66

Desmond Mason scored 16 points and Oklahoma State held Seton Hall to 7-of-34 shooting from 3-point range.

Brian Montonati and Fredrik Jonzen added 15 each for the Cowboys (27-6), who advanced to the final eight for the first time since 1995, when they reached the Final Four.

Rimas Kaukenas led Seton Hall (22-10) with 17 points.

The Pirates, who needed overtime in each of their two wins in the tournament, played without senior point guard Shaheen Holloway. He sprained his left ankle in Seton Hall's second-round victory over Temple.

SOUTH

North Carolina 74, Tennessee 69

Cota combined with Joseph Forte and Julius Peppers to hit six straight free throws in the final 34.9 seconds for North Carolina.

Forte scored 22 points for the Tar Heels (21-13), who beat Stanford in the second round. Forte also broke Sam Perkins' school record for points by a freshman.

C.J. Black led the Vols (26-7) with 17 points.

Tulsa 80, Miami 71

Brandon Kurtz scored all 17 of his points in the second half to help Tulsa advance to its first regional final.

Eric Coley also had 17 points for Tulsa (32-4), playing in the round of 16 for the third time since 1994.

Vernon Jennings and Mario Bland each scored 17 points for Miami (23-11), which fell one victory short of a school record.