UCLA looked like a team vying for a national championships. Arkansas looked like a team that will struggle to make the NCAA Tournament.
The second-ranked Bruins dominated Arkansas during a matinee Sunday, 81-66, a game in which the Razorbacks rarely looked like they belonged on the same floor.
UCLA does that to a lot of teams, of course. The Bruins entered second in the nation in rebounding margin, outboarding their opponents by 22 a game, and used that strength against an Arkansas bunch who have struggled on the glass for seemingly most of coach Mike Neighbors’ tenure.
The Bruins took care of things in the paint, outrebounded Arkansas by 30 and outscoring them down low by 18. That size helped UCLA to a lead as large as 30 in the third quarter.
Arkansas rallied a bit in the fourth as Taliah Scott scored 13 of her team-high 23 in the final 10 minutes to make the margin respectable.
The Razorbacks were projected as the last team in in ESPN’s Bracketology in its last update.