Pujols tops Howard to win N.L. MVP award

Albert Pujols won his second N.L. MVP award despite the Cardinals finishing in fourth place, the lowest spot for an N.L. MVP winner since Andre Dawson and Chicago Cubs wound up sixth in 1987.

Pujols got 18 of the 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and had 369 points. Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard drew 12 first-place votes and 308 points.

Pujols hit .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs while playing with a sore right elbow that required surgery. Howard hit 48 homers with 146 RBIs to lead the majors.

•Rays raise prices: Coming off their first winning season, the A.L. champion Tampa Bay Rays announced that single-game tickets will rise anywhere from $1 to $5, depending on location at Tropicana Field, where prices range from $10 to $210 for most home dates in 2009.

•Cubs to play new Yankee Stadium: The Chicago Cubs will play the first exhibition games at the new Yankee Stadium, meeting New York on Friday night April 3 and again the following afternoon.

The $1.3 billion ballpark, scheduled for substantial completion by Feb. 17, will host its first regular-season game when the Yankees play Cleveland on April 16.

Men’s Basketball

No. 2 Huskies roll

Craig Austrie and freshman Kemba Walker scored 21 points each and No. 2 Connecticut (2-0) ran away from Hartford 99-56 in Hartford, Conn., the Huskies’ 63rd consecutive win against an instate opponent.

•Curry stays hot: Stephen Curry had 33 points and nine assists and No. 21 Davidson (2-0) beat James Madison (0-1) 99-64 in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off in Norman, Okla.

•In the Pac-10: Johnathon Jones scored a career-high 32 points, including 10 in overtime, to lead Oakland of Michigan (1-1) to an 82-79 victory over Oregon. The Golden Grizzlies ended the Ducks (1-1) 16-game nonconference winning streak at McArthur Court… . Chase Budinger scored 21 points and Nic Wise added 19 points and nine assists, and Arizona opened the post-Lute Olson era with a 75-62 victory over Florida Atlantic in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Women’s Basketball

Virginia stuns Tennessee

Monica Wright scored 35 points and Britnee Milner made a free throw with 6.4 seconds left to help No. 16 Virginia (2-0) upset No. 5 Tennessee 83-82 in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Lady Vols (1-1) held a 43-35 halftime lead before the Lady Cavaliers rallied to pull off the upset.

•No.14 Texas stalls No. 25 Old Dominion: Brittainey Raven scored Texas’ first 12 points and finished with 20 and the No. 14 Longhorns (3-0) routed No. 25 Old Dominion (2-1) 78-44 to win the World Vision Classic in Austin, Texas.

NBA

Rockets silence Thunder

Luis Scola scored 23 points, Yao Ming added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets made a second-half surge without injured seven-time All-Star Tracy McGrady to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-89 in Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant had 29 points to lead the Thunder.

•Spurs slip past Clippers: Roger Mason’s 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining lifted the San Antonio Spurs to an 86-83 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles.

Mason led the Spurs with 21 points.

•Garnett, O’Neal penalized: Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett has been suspended for one game and Phoenix center Shaquille O’Neal has been fined $25,000 for separate incidents over the weekend.

•Warriors extend Jackson: Golden State has signed Stephen Jackson to a three-year contract extension, a deal which takes the explosive guard-forward through the 2012-13 season.

Hockey

Islanders win in SO

Roberto Luongo made 34 saves against New York, but couldn’t stop Frans Nielsen in a shootout as the Islanders beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 for their season-best third straight victory.

Nielsen scored on the first shot of the tiebreaker, and Joey MacDonald turned aside all three Vancouver shooters.

•Rangers sink Senators: Nikolai Zherdev scored the only goal in a shootout and Henrik Lundqvist denied all three Ottawa shooters, giving the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Senators.

The Rangers opted to shoot first and Zherdev beat Alex Auld between the pads.