Halftime Takeaways As No. 15 Gonzaga Leads No. 12 Arkansas 36-35

FAYETTEVILLE — No. 15 Gonzaga leads No. 12 Arkansas 36-35 at halftime of Saturday's exhibition game inside Bud Walton Arena. The Razorbacks trailed 36-26 but went on a 9-0 run in the waning moments of the half to close the gap to one.

Here are three takeaways from the first half of action.

As expected, it's not exactly pretty

Neither Gonzaga nor Arkansas played what you could call "good" basketball in the first half, which would be worrying or disappointing if it weren't October.

Sure, both these teams are expected to be national title contenders, but both squads aren't even close to their final form yet, especially an Arkansas team with eight freshmen.

The Razorbacks turned the basketball over times in the first half and had a few key lapses on the defensive end, especially on the glass. Gonzaga pulled down eight offensive rebounds, largely on plays where Arkansas didn't box out everyone.

Those mistakes will be cleaned up gradually over the course of the season, but they made the difference in the first half.

Miikka Muurinen is everywhere

There appear to be very few things on the basketball court that Miikka Muurinen cannot do.

In his first action as a Razorback — Muurinen didn't play in the Bahamas because he had not yet been cleared by the NCAA — Muurinen flew around defensively, knocked down a three and pulled down three rebounds. He also proved to be a viable option for bringing the ball up the floor when Gonzaga employed its press.

However, it was still evident at times that Muurinen was a freshman. He incurred a technical foul near the end of the first half after a brief scuffle with Gonzaga's Massamba Diop and turned the ball over four times, including a bizarre turnover on an inbounds pass where he threw the ball to no one in an attempt to avoid a five-second count.

Still, Muurinen's ceiling is extremely high, and the flashes of brilliance he showed in the first half are reasons for optimism.

Offense, especially Jordan Smith, sputters early

Again, it's important to note that it is Oct. 24 and that this game does not count towards either team's record. But in a vacuum, Arkansas' offense was not at all crisp in the first half of play.

No Razorback got into double figures, with Abdou Toure's 8 points leading the way. Muurinen and Jeremiah Wilkinson each had 7 points, while Jordan Smith Jr. was 0-7 from the field and went scoreless. Arkansas shot 12-33 (36.4 percent) from the field, 5-10 (50) from three and 6-8 (66.7) from the foul line.

Sign up to our free newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) and subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news.