Hollowell posts career highs in rebounds, assists

The order to attack the glass Tuesday night came early for sophomore forward Jeremy Hollowell.

Before senior forward Will Sheehey attempted a free throw early in the first half of IU’s 81-54 victory against Oakland, sophomore point guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell yelled instructions.

He was barking at Hollowell.

“Jeremy, get in there big dog,” Ferrell said.

After Sheehey missed the free throw, Hollowell went to work. He maneuvered his way around two Oakland players trying to box him out and secured the offensive rebound, his second board in the first four minutes.

Immediately, he went up strong with the ball, putting it in off the glass.

On IU’s next possession, Hollowell secured another offensive rebound. This time, Hollowell passed the ball, leading to an easy dunk for freshman forward Noah Vonleh.
Two possessions later, Hollowell scored another basket inside the paint.

Less than six minutes into the game, he had four points, three rebounds and two assists.

Hollowell finished the game with career highs in rebounds with 10, and assists with four.

Coming into the night, Hollowell’s career-high in boards was six.

“Jeremy wants to be really, really good,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “What we’re trying to help him get to is the completeness that comes with that.”

As a team, IU outrebounded Oakland 52-28. Hollowell tied for the team-high with Vonleh, who also grabbed 10 and finished just two points shy of his seventh double-double of the season.

Crean said the team’s rebounding numbers were much better tonight, and he knows that’s an area where the team can still improve, and must improve, as the schedule stiffens.

After Hollowell’s hot start, he began to struggle from the field. He only added two more points the rest of the night, finishing 3-for-10 from the field.

Most startling to Crean, Hollowell failed to get to the free throw line.

“We’ve got to get him to the foul line,” Crean said. “We can’t have games where he’s not getting free throw attempts.”

But while Hollowell had his offensive struggles, he did succeed in being part of the group that halted Oakland’s Travis Bader. Bader, one of the nation’s best 3-point shooters, finished the night 0-for-10 from beyond the arc, the first time in 62 games he hasn’t connected.

“We switched a lot,” Crean said. “When you can switch the way our guards and wings and forwards can right now, that’s a real plus, and it’s got to become a real strength for us.”

For Crean, he sees the strength coming for Hollowell. He knows he’s almost there. Tonight, everything came together except the scoring for him. In Crean’s eyes, that’s on the way.

“He’s putting bits and pieces in there of what he’s capable of, and I’d be shocked if it doesn’t come together here fairly soon for him,” Crean said.

Follow reporter Robby Howard on Twitter @robbyhoward1.