NEW ORLEANS – Matt Howard had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Butler to a 61-54 victory over Wisconsin in the Southeast Regional semifinal Thursday.

Shelvin Mack added 13 points as the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (26-9) advance to face Florida in Saturday’s Elite Eight.

Jordan Taylor had 22 points for cold-shooting Wisconsin (25-9), which shot just 30.4 percent (17 of 56) from the floor.

The Badgers' poor shooting overshadowed a scintillating 22-6 late run, capped by a 3-pointer by Taylor with 1:39 left that pulled the Badgers within 53-49. However, Mack hit a step-back jumper as the shot clock wound down with 54.1 seconds left, as Butler restored a six-point edge and held on.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 20 points in the second half while continuing their second straight impressive NCAA-tournament run. Butler won five consecutive games a year ago and reached the title game before losing to Duke.

The Bulldogs led by nine at halftime and opened the second half with a 14-3 run to take a 47-27 lead. Wisconsin went nearly six minutes without scoring at the outset, missing 17 straight shots until Mike Bruesewitz broke the drought with a basket and free throw with 14:03 remaining.

Badgers leading scorer Jon Leuer had just three points on 1-of-12 shooting. Taylor made just 6-of-19 shots.

Butler took the lead for good at 14-11 on Howard’s 3-pointer with 11:18 left in the first half.