EUGENE, Ore. — How much difference can one player make? If it's Aaron Brooks and the No. 23 Oregon Ducks, then the answer is a world of difference.

After missing the first meeting against the Washington basketball team — an upset victory for the UW — due to mandatory suspension, Brooks was in the lineup Saturday and made the Huskies (16-12, 6-10 Pac-10) aware, scoring 30 points and leading Oregon (22-7, 10-7 Pac-10) to a win, 93-85.

The loss extended Washington's losing streak to four games — the longest since 2004.

Despite happening almost a year ago, the incident that led to Brooks' suspension — an elbow to the face of the UW's Ryan Appleby in the Pac-10 Tournament — was at the forefront as the leading subplot of the night.

Before the opening tip, Appleby refused to shake Brooks' hand, leading to a cascade of boos from the home crowd.

"I felt he took a cheap shot at me," Appleby said of the incident. "I didn't think they penalized him properly. And I'm not going to acknowledge someone who'd hit someone else in the face like that."

Brooks tried to downplay the situation, but early on it was apparent both players were trying to make statements.

Appleby, amid the booing, hit 5-7 shots — all from beyond the three-point line — and scored 17 first-half points. His sharpshooting skills helped stake the Huskies out to an 11-point lead, 30-19.

"He played with an extra chip on his shoulder and that helped us," said Spencer Hawes, who finished 20 points and seven rebounds. "Tonight we put the pedal to the floor, but it wasn't enough. In the second half, they had a couple of runs and that hurt us."

While the Ducks did go on two extensive runs after halftime, the most damaging may have been the one that immediately followed Washington's biggest lead. They used contributions from several players to outscore the UW 21-3 over a five-minute span.

The Huskies' struggles may have been a result of losing their floor leader, Jon Brockman, for most of the first half. At the 18:04 mark, Brockman picked up his second foul, and was forced to sit on the bench for nearly the entire half.

"Jon Brockman is the heart and soul of this team," coach Lorenzo Romar said. "He's such an important piece, and he does so much. But our guys didn't put their heads down."

For Brockman, the worst part was not being able to be out on the floor, especially when he felt he should have been there.

He made up for lost time, though, scoring six consecutive points in the midst of a 12-3 Husky run, giving them the lead 58-56. The last four points of the run came via two consecutive technical fouls against the Oregon bench.

Despite taking the lead, Washington could not stop Brooks or the Ducks. The Seattle native scored 17 of his 30 in the second half, shooting 10-14 for the game. And the team put Washington away with a 13-2 run with 6:22 remaining.

"We just clicked today," Brooks said. "They played great defense, but we did a good job finding the open man and hitting our shots."

Reach reporter Justin Chartrey at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.