UConn's Calhoun to miss at least two games

STORRS, Conn., Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Connecticut basketball Coach Jim Calhoun is taking a medical leave of absence beginning with the Huskies' game Saturday against Seton Hall.

Calhoun is suffering from spinal stenosis, a painful lower back condition that limits mobility.

Associate Head Coach George Blaney will take over head coaching duties while Calhoun is out. Connecticut officials said Friday Calhoun will miss at least Saturday's game at home against Seton Hall and a game Monday at Louisville.

Calhoun, 69, missed seven games in the 2009-10 season for an undisclosed issues. He had prostate cancer in 2003 and skin cancer in 2008.

Connecticut has lost its last four games and is 14-7 on the season. The Huskies won the NCAA championship last spring, the third such title under Calhoun.

Calhoun, inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, has coached at Connecticut since the 1986-87 season, building a 618-233 record. Counting 14 seasons at Northeastern, Calhoun's coaching record is 867-369. Only five men's major-college college coaches have more wins.