Hollowell, Vonleh shine in season-opener for IU

In his first career start, he set two career highs.

Sophomore forward Jeremy Hollowell scored 16 points and blocked four shots, both career highs, to lead IU to a 100-72 victory in its season-opener against Chicago State on Friday night at Assembly Hall.

“What I liked tonight, he made some mistakes, and he was mad at himself,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “He wasn’t looking around. There was no victim role out of him. He just kept moving. To me, that’s what’s most important because he’s got a chance to be a very central figure on this team on both ends of the floor.”

On a night where IU set a new program record for made free throws in one game with 45, Hollowell was the leader in getting to the line.

With an attack-oriented mindset tailored to taking advantage of the new foul rules and getting to the line, Hollowell took 10 free throws on the night, making nine of them.

He missed his first attempt, then made his next nine consecutive shots.

“With the new rules, we wanted to take advantage of it and attack the basket and get fouled,” he said. “I think we did a good job of that.”

Hollowell, who led the six IU players who scored in double figures, scored his first three points of the game from the line.

He only made three field goals, one of which was a 3-point field goal. His other two field goals were layups.

“I just felt really comfortable out there once I got out there,” Hollowell said. “But I think attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line, getting some easy points off the line, helped.”

Hollowell wasn’t the only IU player who shined in the season-opener.

Making his IU regular season debut, freshman forward Noah Vonleh recorded a double-double, the first Hoosier to tally a double-double in his collegiate debut since Cody Zeller in 2011.

In his first two minutes and 29 seconds of action, Vonleh scored five points and grabbed three rebounds. He finished the game with 11 points and 14 rebounds along with three blocks.

“I’m going to keep working hard and getting better, and hopefully I can keep getting double-doubles,” he said.

IU Coach Tom Crean said Vonleh recorded 12 deflections, and he called Vonleh’s performance a “triple-double.”

“To me that’s a big deal in his first game,” Crean said.

Vonleh, who went 0-for-8 from the free-throw line in exhibition play, finished a perfect 5-for-5 against Chicago State.

“I just told myself I need to start calming down and focus on the shot, and I’ll make it,” he said. “Before I felt like I was just rushing myself, that was it.”

Crean, who had said during the two exhibitions that Vonleh would improve, joked with the media Friday night, saying he hoped the media sent more positive tweets to Vonleh after some had questioned his free-throw shooting ability.

“He spends more time in the gym right now working on his free throws, and it was great to see him rewarded for that,” Crean said.

Reflecting on Hollowell’s team-leading performance, Crean said Hollowell needs to learn to play with consistent energy and that he’s only “scratching the surface.”

“When he learns to do that and learns the efficiency that he’s capable of on both ends, he’s going to be an outstanding player,” Crean said.

Follow reporter Robby Howard on Twitter @robbyhoward1.