Houston's DeJon Jarreau Ejected for Allegedly Biting Cincinnati's Keith Williams

Houston Cougars guard DeJon Jarreau was issued a flagrant-2 technical foul and ejected in the second half of his team's 64-62 loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday.

He was ejected for biting Cincinnati's Keith Williams on the calf as they went for a loose ball (h/t Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle):

According to Justin Williams of The Athletic, Williams and teammate Mamoudou Diarra said Jarreau bit them during the game. Jarreau finished with five points, six assists and four rebounds.

After the game, however, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson denied Jarreau bit Williams, per ESPN's Jeff Borzello:

"There was no bite. There was an alleged bite. 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."

It was particularly ill-timed for Houston, seeing how the team was nursing a two-point lead with less than seven minutes remaining and was undermanned in the backcourt for the stretch run on the road. 

Houston was in control for much of the contest and took a 10-point lead into intermission. However, the Bearcats gradually climbed back into it and took their first lead of the second half with less than three minutes remaining on a Williams layup. The Cougars still had a chance to force overtime when Cedrick Alley Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound in the waning seconds, but Caleb Mills missed a jumper at the buzzer.

Jarron Cumberland led the way for the victors with 17 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two blocks.

While the biting incident overshadowed portions of the game, it was a key win for the Bearcats as they look to get off the bubble and into the NCAA men's tournament. They improved to 14-7 overall and 7-2 in the American Athletic Conference with the win over the 21st-ranked Cougars. 

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller did not include Cincinnati in his latest projected bracket, although that was before it earned an impressive win Saturday.