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Jahmal Burroughs heard the whistle blow, raised his hands in innocence, then twisted his head around to see who the referee pointed to.
DeAntre Jefferson did the almost same thing, but definitely with the same intent. As did Jeremy Saffore and Chris Early, and Mocs coach John Shulman emulated the questioning gesture as well on Saturday. UNCG coach Mike Dement joined the loud questioning party too.
Three of the five University of Tennessee at Chattanooga post players fouled-out, and another finished with four fouls in the Mocs' 70-65 win at UNC Greensboro on Saturday.
"We felt like that every time we touched a dude we were going to get called for a foul," said Early, who hit a 15-foot jumper with 28.5 seconds to go that gave UTC a four-point lead. "None of us wanted to foul-out or get in foul trouble because we wanted to play the game. They were calling a lot of holding and touchy fouls.
"We were trying to fight for position, but every time we tried to fight we were called."
The Spartans (0-14, 0-4 SoCon) attempted at least one free throw at to conclude 8-of-11 possessions during the second half in which they stepped to the line 25 times.
"I was trying to be aggressive," said UNCG sophomore forward Aloysius Henry who attempted 15 free throws. "I went to the line often tonight, but I should have knocked down more shots."
The calls influenced how the Mocs (8-8, 4-0 SoCon) prefer to play at both ends of the floor. Shulman calls for his team to be aggressive and physical on defense while also taking an inside-first approach on offense.
UTC played too physical on defense, which eliminated the Mocs' post presence - especially centers Saffore and Jefferson - on offense because they spent so much of the game sitting on the bench next to guys wearing ties.
"Our post guys were sitting by me," Shulman said. "DeAntre didn't get one shot-attempt, and he was never in the flow of the game due to foul trouble. Jeremy didn't get in the flow due to foul trouble, and Jahmal had a good start then got in foul trouble.
"We never had anything in the flow offensively, and we were in survival mode."
UTC could brush it off as a one-game phenomenon. Individual Mocs had combined to foul-out four times in UTC's previous 15 games. Three fouled-out in Saturday's win.
"We played Jahmal and Chris together for the first time this year and that lasted a few seconds before Jahmal fouled out," Shulman said. "I thought Sam [Watson] did an admirable job."
But they're taking a lesson or two from the situation. The post players must improve their defensive footwork and the coaches must call for more of a mix between one-on-one defense and doubling the post.
"We have to do a better job of fronting the post so it doesn't become a one-on-one confrontation," Shulman said. "To do that, you can't sit down there and wrestle. DeAntre has a body to wrestle.
"But wrestling in our league is going to be called a foul."
It's a lesson UTC learned the easy way - through a win.