Ducks drop Huskies, 84-73

LOS ANGELES — Ryan Appleby wasn't the only one who was flattened here Thursday night.

So were the Washington men's basketball team's hopes of repeating as Pac-10 tournament champion.

Oregon, which seemed more interested in fighting in the first half, finally turned serious in the second half and rallied from a three-point deficit to shock the Huskies 84-73 at Staples Center and advance to the semifinals.

"They were just tougher than we were," said UW senior guard Brandon Roy, who scored a game-high 30 points. "We got all the scratches, bumps and bruises and they walked out of here clean."

Washington (24-6), which saw its eight-game winning streak snapped, now heads home to await news on Sunday of its NCAA tournament seeding.

Certainly, that seeding took a hit with the upset loss to the Ducks, who improved to 15-17. Maybe even as big as the one incurred by Appleby in the first half, which set the tone for a game that was as physical as any the Huskies have played this season.

With 10 minutes to go in the first half, Oregon junior guard Aaron Brooks, a Franklin High grad, leveled Appleby with an elbow while trying to make his way through the lane on the Ducks' offensive end. Appleby suffered a cut on his upper lip and missed the rest of the half while getting six stitches.

Pac-10 men's tournament

Thursday's games

Arizona 73, Stanford 68

UCLA 79, Oregon State 47

California 82, USC 67

Oregon 84, Washington 73

Today's games

Arizona vs. UCLA, 6:20 p.m., FSN

Cal vs. Oregon, 8:50 p.m., FSN

NCAA Selection Show

Sunday, 3 p.m., Channel 7

Brooks was apparently upset that Appleby, while holding the ball and attempting to create some space, swung his arms around up high on Washington's previous possession.

"Oh yeah, he did it on purpose," said Appleby, whose face was visibly swollen. "I came off a screen, and right when he saw me he threw an elbow right at my face."

Appleby, who also suffered a bloody nose, returned in the second half but was held scoreless for only the second time this season.

"We know Aaron Brooks and I think in the heat of the moment he just kind of lost it a little bit," UW coach Lorenzo Romar said.

Jamaal Williams tried to go after Brooks but was restrained by Mike Jensen.

Brooks, interviewed later on television, apologized for his behavior. He also wrote letters of apology to Romar and Appleby.

Officials ruled Brooks had engaged in a fight and ejected him from the game. As part of his punishment, he must sit out Oregon's semifinal game tonight against Cal.

Oregon coach Ernie Kent said he would not comment on the incident. But he said he thought the loss of Brooks rallied his team a bit.

"At halftime we just talked about playing tougher basketball," Kent said.

Despite the injury to Appleby, as well as foul trouble that limited point guard Justin Dentmon to 20 minutes, UW had a 51-38 lead with 15:40 left.

Then the game turned as Oregon sophomore guard Chamberlain Oguchi got going. He scored a career-high 26 points Wednesday against WSU, but he was held to zero in the first half Thursday thanks to tough defense by Bobby Jones.

Oguchi didn't hit his first field goal — a three-pointer — until there was 14:35 left in the game. But he nailed six of his last nine shots to finish with a team-high 22 points.

Offensively, UW went cold against Oregon's zone defense and also had 12 turnovers in the second half alone.

"Maybe they wore us down," Romar said. "We just kind of lost our intensity there in the second half, and Oguchi got going and we couldn't keep him in front of us."

The Ducks hit 7 of 14 three-pointers in the second half. Oguchi hit six of those.

Washington had advanced to the finals of this tournament the last two years, winning it last year. And most expected the Huskies to make it to the finals again.

Romar, though, said he didn't think his players were caught napping.

"I don't think we overlooked them," Romar said. "I think it was more that the ball just wouldn't go down for us and sometimes that drives us too much — more than it should — if we are making shots or not."

Romar added that he didn't think one loss was reason for panic heading into the NCAA tournament.

Said Roy: "I am just happy that we have another opportunity to go back out and play and try to prove ourselves again."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com