defending national champions

University of Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun, who missed three games earlier this season because of NCAA sanctions, is taking an indefinite medical leave of absence because of back problems.

The Hall of Fame coach of the defending national champions, who turns 70 in May, has been suffering for several months from spinal stenosis, a lower back condition that causes him severe pain and...

Isiah Thomas stood on the sideline and ordered his undersized Florida International team to spread the court against the defending national champions.

That's when North Carolina's Deon Thompson walked over and teasingly asked why Thomas had to make the bigger Tar Heels defend so much on the perimeter.