There were jokes from Geno Auriemma regarding his associate head coach, Chris Dailey, enjoying the red-carpet treatment she received when filling in for him recently as head coach of the UConn women’s basketball team.

He cracked that it was no accident he returned the same day as leading scorer Azzi Fudd returned from injury — “It’s no coincidence that the Lone Ranger and Tonto walked in at the same time, right?” he said.

Same Geno, just a little bit scruffier, unshaven.

Same Geno, just a little more perspective, his voice an octave softer, at times near a whisper.

Auriemma met with the media Saturday for the first time since missing back-to-back games and four in all this season due to illness. The fourth-ranked Huskies (14-2 overall, 7-0 Big East) take on Georgetown (8-8, 1-6) at 4 p.m. Sunday at the XL Center in Hartford (SNY).

It was a surprise appearance when Auriemma boarded the UConn bus to make the trip to Wednesday’s game at St. John’s, which resulted in an 82-52 victory.

The Hall of Fame coach said that after he missed games against Florida State and Seton Hall due to illness, he rushed it by coming back for the following matchups against Creighton and Marquette, resulting in a setback. He left with the team on a two-game road trip to Butler (Indianapolis) and Xavier (Cincinnati) only to return home.

Auriemma’s mother, Marsiella, died on Dec. 8, and Auriemma said it resulted in a great deal of sleeplessness, which added to him not feeling well.

“I think when you go through something like that, you kind of talk yourself into thinking that you’re quite prepared and, rationally, you’re quite prepared,” Auriemma said, beginning a lengthy answer about what he’s been thinking about the last few weeks.

“You think you can handle whatever’s coming next and the next couple of days when you know it’s imminent and you’re there for three days and you’re up 24 hours a day and trying to get everything done that needs to get done ... but it’s like the delayed effect that happens.

“My sister (Anna) has been with her every single day for the last three years. That’s like a huge, huge loss for her. So every time you saw her and saw her face, saw her reaction, it triggers another one in you.”

Auriemma wound up solving crossword puzzles at 3 a.m., he said, thinking surely that would put him to sleep. He returned to the team, trying to stay busy, but wasn’t present, he said. He would grow angry with himself for not doing a better job coaching.

Since then, he has come to a realization. He can’t control everything, the way he has tried to throughout his 38-season, 1,100-win, 11-national championship career.

He conjured a memory from when he was younger and would always ask the older Italian men with whom he was surrounded, “Why?”

“Their answer was pretty simple in Italian, ”Perché è così.“ Because it is. That’s the only explanation. Why’d she just do that? Because she did. It is what it is, ‘perché è così.’ If you understand that, you don’t have to ask why did it happen,” Auriemma said.

“After all these years, I take every pass, every dribble, every cut, every box out, every single thing personally, to heart, like I didn’t do a good enough job coaching that. The only thing I found to be truly liberating is you don’t have the ability to control it and once you relinquish control of it, you do feel a sense of calm and peace.”

That and having Fudd back.

Fudd, a sophomore, missed eight games after injuring her right knee in a game at Notre Dame, Dec. 4. She is averaging 19.8 points per game with back-to-back 32-point games in November. She scored 14 points against St. John’s in her comeback.

The Huskies are still missing Caroline Ducharme and Ayanna Patterson, both in concussion protocol.

“Having coach and Azzi back on the same day, I feel like that gave us a little relief,” point guard Nika Muhl said. “Once we get Ayanna and Caroline back, we’re going to be great. I can’t wait for them to come back.”

“I think being around us, I think it’s always a good thing for him and also for us, I think just having him back and seeing him smile and saying his jokes and all of that, just the normal coach we know, it feels good to see him back,” UConn guard Lou Lopez Senechal said. “We finally see that we’re going uphill instead of downhill right now. The more we are, the merrier, I would say.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com