By The Associated Press

Published: Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Updated: Monday, October 19, 2009 10:39 AM CDT

Here's a look at weekend sports in brief around the world.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut football player who was an expectant father was stabbed to death early Sunday after an on-campus dance, just hours after helping his team to a homecoming victory.

Jasper Howard, 20, of Miami, and another student were stabbed during a fight after a fire alarm was pulled during a university sanctioned dance at the UConn Student Union just after 12:30 a.m., police said.

Police had not identified a suspect or released the name of the other victim.

Connecticut coach Randy Edsall said the team was heartbroken and devastated over the loss of Howard, a junior and the team’s starting cornerback who came to the school to get away from the violence on the streets of his hometown. He became the first person in his family to go to college.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

MIAMI (AP) — Isiah Thomas was finally back on the court Saturday.

Holding his first official practice as Florida International’s coach, the Hall of Fame player ran up and down with his new team, yelling out pointers on how to defend off the dribble. Far from his past coaching home with the New York Knicks, Thomas said his focus is on rebuilding the Golden Panthers, who finished 13-20 last season.

He led stretching drills and cheers, looking agile and carefree in his new gym.

The season-opener at defending national champion North Carolina is about three weeks away, but FIU is already reporting that ticket sales have jumped 166 percent ahead of last season’s pace — so hiring Thomas seems to be paying off.

PRO BASKETBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — After years of courting the European and Asian markets, the NBA is trying to build up its fan base among Hispanics.

The league will launch a marketing campaign on Monday called enebea — the Spanish pronunciation of NBA. Featuring increased TV and internet exposure, plus community projects, the NBA hopes to expand its reach among a demographic that makes up 15 percent of its fan base.

A Spanish-language Web site (www.nba.com/enebea) will include news and features on Hispanic players, and the league will plan events to renovate basketball courts in Hispanic neighborhoods.

TENNIS

SHANGHAI (AP) — Nikolay Davydenko upset top-seeded Rafael Nadal 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Sunday to win the Shanghai Masters for his fourth title of the year.

The sixth-seeded Davydenko broke decisively in the sixth game of the second set to collect his 18th career title. His flat groundstrokes and angled winners denied the Spaniard a sixth title this year and his first since the Rome Masters in May.

Nadal returned last week after a month out due to a pulled stomach muscle at the U.S. Open. He looked rusty, having advanced twice when his opponents retired: Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in the quarterfinals and Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the semifinals.

AUTO RACING

SAO PAULO (AP) — Jenson Button clinched his first Formula One title with a fifth-place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday and his Brawn GP team made history by becoming the first to take the constructors’ crown in its debut season.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber claimed his second Grand Prix win ahead of Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber and defending champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was fourth.

Home-crowd favorite Rubens Barrichello, Button’s Brawn GP teammate, finished eighth.

Fifth was good enough to give Button an insurmountable 15-point lead over Vettel in the drivers’ standings ahead of the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 1.

COLLEGE SPORTS

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Former Arizona swimmer Lacey Nymeyer was honored as the NCAA woman of the year at a dinner Sunday night.

Nymeyer earned a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay at the 2008 Olympic games. She helped lead Arizona to the 2008 NCAA Division I women’s swimming and diving team championship. She also captured a gold medal at the 2007 FINA World Championships in the 800-meter freestyle relay.

The award honors student athletes who have completed their college eligibility, demonstrated academic and athletic excellence and engaged in community service and leadership opportunities.

She is the third student-athlete from Arizona and sixth swimmer to win the award.

OLYMPICS

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian officials are insisting security won’t be a problem for the 2016 Olympics despite drug-gang violence that plunged Rio de Janeiro into a day of bloody chaos that left 14 people dead just two weeks after it was picked to host the games.

An hourslong firefight between rival gangs in one of the city’s slums killed at least 12 people, injured six and saw a police helicopter shot down and eight buses set on fire Saturday.

Police said Sunday that they killed two other suspected drug traffickers in overnight clashes near the Morro dos Macacos (“Monkey Hill”) slum where 2,000 officers were put on patrol to maintain order.

Authorities said the violence would only toughen their resolve to improve security ahead of the Olympics and before 2014, when Brazil will host the World Cup soccer tournament