Last March and Last Night, Appleby Came Through

We have had our issues with Ryan Appleby this season. The curly haired guard can seemingly do one thing on the court, hit three pointers. This season he has been struggling to do that, making him essentially useless.

However, his contributions to last night's game started way back in March when he got in the head of Oregon's Aaron Brooks, causing Brooks to do what most Husky fans wish they could, elbow Appleby in the face. The result was a Brooks suspension from last night's game.

So with the conference's best player in the one place that the struggling Husky guards could actually contain him, on the couch at his mom's house, Appleby and Justin Dentmon were free to concentrate on their game. Which they did wonderfully by hitting big shots, creating for others, and leading the Huskies to the first of many must win games from now until March.

The Huskies are now 12-7, and 2-6 in conference play, with 11 games left before the Pac 10 Tournament (including one against non-conference Pittsburgh). No Pac-10 team has ever made the tournament with a .500 or lower conference record.

The Huskies play Oregon State on Saturday at 1pm. Aaron Brooks will be in Pullman.