SPECIAL REPORT / Final Four /...

The last time Arkansas was defeated in an NCAA tournament game, it was by eventual national champion North Carolina. That was two years ago in an East Regional semifinal.

Since then, the Razorbacks have won 10 consecutive NCAA tournament games--and last year’s national championship--and they thank the Tar Heels for their success.

“After we lost that game, we realized that we needed to take our program to a higher level in order to win it all,” Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said about the Hogs’ 80-74 loss to North Carolina in 1993. “We learned that we could compete, but we needed more.”

This evening, Richardson and his resilient Razorbacks will get a chance to show North Carolina just how far their program has risen when they play the Tar Heels in the second game of the Final Four doubleheader at the Kingdome.

In a matchup of the last two teams to win it all, Arkansas (31-6) and North Carolina (28-5) have taken dissimilar paths to the Final Four.

After breezing through the first four rounds last year, Arkansas has had to scratch and claw this time around. The Razorbacks won their first three tournament games by a total of eight points, and had to come from behind in every game.

They needed a last-second free throw to beat 15th-seeded Texas Southern in the first round, 79-78, after trailing for most of the final four minutes.

In the second round, after trailing Syracuse by as many as 12 points late in the second half, the Hogs tied the game at the end of regulation play on a free throw, the result of a technical foul against Lawrence Moten, who called a timeout when the Orangemen were out of them. Arkansas then won, 96-94, in overtime.

In their Midwest semifinal, the Razorbacks won again in overtime, 96-91, over Memphis, after rallying from a 12-point deficit. Still, they needed a controversial foul call at the end of regulation time.

In defeating Virginia, 68-61, to reach the Final Four, the Razorbacks had to overcome a six-point deficit in the second half before pulling away.

“It hasn’t been easy,” said forward Scotty Thurman, who made the key three-point shot in last year’s title game victory over Duke. “But we’re back where we want to be.”

Arkansas is only the fourth defending champion in the post-UCLA era of the 1960s and ‘70s to get back to the Final Four, but Richardson still talks about the lack of respect for his team.

In his first conference with reporters earlier this week, he was asked about this year’s team compared to a year ago.

“The thing that really irritates me is when someone says I preach respect,” Richardson said. “I’ve never preached respect in my life. I think you earn respect.”

Richardson, 53, was outspoken about being an African-American coach at last season’s Final Four, saying that sportswriters had long questioned his coaching ability. A year later, he feels the same.

“I will continue to say what I said a year ago, three years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, 15,” he said. “This is my 31st year. I’ve always felt, and I know that I’m not the only one that feels that, we do not get credit for our surreal thinking of the game.

“I get a big kick out of everybody saying, ‘Oh, boy, he’s not getting respect.’ That’s not what’s motivating me. What’s motivating me and my team is to play hard and compete hard. That’s motivation.”

If Richardson wants his due, he’s getting it from Dean Smith, the North Carolina coach appearing in his 10th Final Four in his 34th season.

“We have tremendous respect for the Arkansas program and Coach Richardson,” Smith said. “I think it should be an exciting game if we can handle their excellent pressure.”

North Carolina might have the best starting five in the tournament, headed by All-American candidates Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace. In reaching Seattle, the Tar Heels have been able to run to victories over Murray State, Iowa State, Georgetown and Kentucky by an average of 13 points.

Stackhouse, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, leads the Tar Heels, averaging 19.2 points and 8.3 rebounds a game. Wallace, a 6-10 sophomore, is right behind, averaging 16.8 and 8.2.

North Carolina has also felt slighted in the respect department because of the attention Stackhouse and Wallace have received. The Tar Heels believe they are much more than a two-player team.

“They talk about us like we’re junkyard dogs or something,” said Pearce Landry, the Tar Heels’ sixth man who played on the 1993 title team. “We have a team that has more than two players who can do things.”

Senior guard Donald Williams, who two years ago was voted outstanding player of the Final Four, is averaging 15.4 points, and his backcourt mate, Jeff McInnis, averages 12.3.

And during the tournament, North Carolina has also received a big boost from Dante Calabria, who leads the team with 52.4% three-point shooting, and Landry, who played well when Wallace was slowed by an ankle injury in the first round.

And then there is Smith.

With an 830-235 coaching record, he is the second-winningest coach in Division I history. Only Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp won more games, and Smith’s 60 tournament victories are a record.

“Playing under (Smith) has been great because he knows how to win,” Wallace said. “We sacrifice scoring a lot to win basketball games. And, that’s the point--to win.”