STORRS -- After missing both of UConn's games last week due to an illness, Geno Auriemma was back at practice ahead of the Huskies' final home game against Houston on Saturday.

In his absence, associate head coach Chris Dailey took command of the team and improved her record as a head coach to 9-0. While Auriemma watched from his couch at home, he enjoyed getting to see the game from a different perspective.

"It's really a weird dynamic when you're watching on television because you're watching the game differently," he said. "You're not worried about 'Who do I have to sub in?' You're not talking to your coaches, you're not bitching about who didn't rebound who didn't screen. You're just watching the game and as you're watching the game, you almost start acting like a fan."

It's not as if Auriemma doesn't watch game film after coaching, it's just the experiencing the game for the first time through the television broadcast was new for him.

"Even when I watch it, I've already seen it. I've lived it. I was in the game," he said. "Now I'm going to watch it, I know what's coming up next. So it's like a different eye that's looking. I'm watching on TV for the first time, shaking my head."

But just because his team was on the other side of the country doesn't mean Auriemma didn't want to give his two cents on the games.

"One of the games, I thought 'I should let them know what I see at halftime,' but then I thought 'Who's going to check their phone at halftime?'" Auriemma said. "By the time they get this, it's going to be the end of the game. I was texting back and forth with (video director Ben Kantor). I said 'Ben make sure you get this on film...' That was the extent of my coaching."

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