COLLEGE BASKETBALL / MEN’S FINAL FOUR REPORT

Arkansas guard Scotty Thurman says Monday’s championship game will pit two schools still vying for respect.

The Razorbacks struggled all season trying to live up to last year’s national championship team.

In the tournament, Arkansas has won two overtime games to stay alive.

People call the Razorbacks lucky.

“There’s a fine line between luck and playing hard, and a fine line between respect and criticism,” said Thurman, who made only two of 10 shots from the field in Saturday’s 75-68 victory over North Carolina. “But we’ve won 32 games. You can’t be lucky and win 32 games.”

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The Bruins hope the same Corey Beck shows up Monday. In Saturday’s victory over North Carolina, the Arkansas guard made only two of nine shots from the field and finished with five points. He did have 10 assists.

“I was in a slump today,” Beck said. “I was missing layups. It was like it wasn’t Corey out there, it was like some guy trying to make the team. I don’t know why I wasn’t focused at all. I was just terrible.”

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Despite losing the semifinal game to UCLA, Oklahoma State will not return home until Tuesday.

“They deserve to have a little bit of a vacation,” Sutton said of his team. “Seattle is such a great city. We’ll stay and see the game Monday night.”