Alabama Basketball Faces Michigan Without Key Player

0:00On March 27, Alabama's 4th seed basketball team landed in Chicago for the midwest regional sweet 16 matchup against top seed Michigan on Friday evening. Key guard Aiden Holloway, their second leading scorer, missed the fly due to a suspension, but got court approval to travel out of state starting. Today, after his lawyer filed the request, Holloway faced arrest on March 16 for first degree possession of more than two pounds of marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp, leading, head coach Nate Oates to binge him right away. He set out the Crimson Tides first two tournament wins over 13 seed Hofstra and 5th seed Texas last weekend in Tampa. The team thrived without him, shooting 46% from the field and 39% from three point range across those games, including a record tie outburst of 19-3s against Texas. Holloway earned all South East Conference 13 honors this season, averaging 16.8 points and 3.9 assists per game as a starter.

1:02He's listed as out on Thursday's initial availability report with the final update due two hours before tip-off. Officials haven't commented much on his status amid the tied strong run. Alabama eyes, another elite a-trip. They're the only program to reach at the past two years, and a win here could keep that streak alive against a tough Michigan squad.