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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 8:52 a.m., Friday, March 20, 2009

NCAA: UConn coach Calhoun says he was dehydrated, will coach Saturday

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun will coach the Huskies on Saturday, two days after being hospitalized for dehydration.

The 66-year-old coach was released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on Friday morning, then had breakfast with the team and ran practice.

"I fully expected to coach yesterday morning at 10, 11 o'clock when I mentioned to Jeff Anderson, our doctor, that I hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days and he said 'Let's go down and get it checked out'" Calhoun said in a press conference Friday. "And the next thing I knew the hour or so turned into being admitted and they tested me for everything it seemed and they found I was totally dehydrated."

"I bribed my way out of there as quick as I could. The full physical exam, for which I got high ratings, did not include a psychiatrist."

In his absence, associate head coach George Blaney coached the Huskies. A.J. Price and Hasheem Thabeet each scored 20 points in the third-largest victory ever in NCAA tournament history — 103-47 against Chattanooga. They'll play Texas A&M in Saturday's second-round game.

This was the third NCAA tournament game Calhoun has missed. In the two previous instances, UConn went on to win the national title.

In 1999, Calhoun missed a first-round game against Texas-San Antonio. In 2004, he left a second-round game against DePaul after becoming ill. He returned just in time to see the end of UConn's 72-55 victory.

Calhoun has missed 21 games in his career, including one other game this season — a Jan. 3 contest against Rutgers.