Houston basketball player suspended one game for biting opponent

Watching a 12-point lead evaporate in the span of four minutes was bad enough for the Houston basketball team. Then its top passer found a bizarre way to get ejected from the game and suspended for a game.

Starting guard DeJon Jarreau was kicked out of the game on Saturday after officials determined he had bit another player’s leg. Yes, bit. A statement from Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson on Sunday confirmed it was indeed a bite.

Replay showed Jarreau lunging for the ball at a Cincinnati player’s feet, then his mouth appears to ... latch onto the player’s leg as the scramble for the ball continued.

While the bite might not be clearly visible, the officials apparently found “evidence” of a bite, which can pretty much only be bite marks on the player’s leg. So, at best, Jarreau's mouth just happened to hit the player’s leg and leave teeth indents.

That incident came at the end of a 10-0 run that all but erased a double-digit Cougars lead. Houston didn’t do much better from there, losing 64-62 in a game they led 40-30 at halftime.

Jarreau finished with five points on 2-of-7 shooting with six assists and four rebounds.

Sampson’s subsequent statement admitted that he erroneously defended Jarreau and that his player indeed bit an opponent. Sampson announced Jarreau had been suspended for one game and that he had apologized to Cincinnati head coach John Brannen for the bite. He probably never imagined he would have release a statement saying that.

Jarreau also released a statement apologizing for the bite.

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