Houston guard DeJon Jarreau was ejected from the Cougars' 64-62 loss to Cincinnati after officials determined he bit Bearcats forward Mamoudou Diarra.
With 6 minutes, 16 seconds remaining in Saturday's game, Jarreau lost his dribble and dove for a loose ball. While on the ground fighting for the ball, it appeared as though Jarraeu bit Diarra's right thigh. Officials reviewed the play and they also said they saw evidence of a bite on Diarra's leg.
Jarreau was given a flagrant foul 2 and ejected.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson disagreed with the officials, telling reporters after the game that Jarreau didn't bite Diarra.
"There was no bite. There was an alleged bite," said Sampson, who also took issue with host Cincinnati shooting 31 free throws to Houston's 10. "Somebody says somebody bit, and they go to the line. I just watched the film. I watched it three times to make sure I was right, too. If you watch it once, you might be wrong. I watched it twice. I watched it three times. I had my staff look at it. There was no bite. There should have been a jump ball. It's our ball. Our possession. And we should have had the ball on the side."
Houston led by as much as 15 points in the second half before Cincinnati stormed back for the two-point victory. The Cougars were leading by two at the time of Jarreau's ejection.
Jarreau has started 13 games for Houston this season, including the past six. He's averaging 9.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists this season. Before transferring to Houston in 2018, Jarreau spent one season at UMass and attended classes for one year at Howard College without playing on the basketball team.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
