Michigan State moved on to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 70-67 win over upset-minded New Mexico State earlier this evening. The big story in the win was a controversial lane violation call on a Raymar Morgan free throw with 18.2 seconds left. NMSU's Wendell McKines moved into the lane prior to Morgan's free throw attempt, prompting a call from the referee on the baseline. The Dagger has video of the incident, along with a harsh opinion on the matter.

Simply put: That's a horrendous, horrendous call. Lane violations happen on a majority of free throws and are almost never whistled by officials. To call one with 18 seconds left in a two-point game in the NCAA tournament is unconscionable. It only makes matters worse that the rebound was uncontested, meaning that the alleged violation provided absolutely no advantage to the Aggies.

Here's the video evidence:

I don't agree with the call because of many of the reasons listed above. However, there's no room for New Mexico State to complain here. They still had plenty of time to score in a one-possession game. With 18.2 seconds left, there is more than enough time to either hit a three-pointer, or get a quick two and prepare to foul again. The official saw the lane violation, which was a correct call according to the rule book, and called it. The fact that he may or may not have called lane violations earlier in the game is irrelevant. It happened, the official made the call, end of story.

To make matters worse, the Spartans led by as many as 16 during the first half but let New Mexico St. back into the game early in the 2nd. Kalin Lucas scored a career-high 25 points, enlightening NMSU guard Jahmar Young, who claimed to not know who Lucas was earlier in the week. The Sparties will play 4-seed Maryland in the second round. The Terrapins beat Houston 89-77 behind 21 points and 17 rebounds from freshman Jordan Williams.

In the West region, 14-seed Oakland fell 89-66 to the 3-seed Pittsburgh Panthers. Oakland led early, holding an 18-14 lead with under 8 minutes left in the first half, but Pittsburgh pulled away to lead 39-26 at the half. Despite the loss, the Grizzlies fared better than their last tournament appearance, when they lost to eventual champion North Carolina 96-68. Coach Greg Kampe was disappointed, but the fans seem like they have his back.

Congratulations Spartans fan across the world, you made your voice heard. It has been reported from the Michigan State Athletics Website that they are going to stick with the old Spartan logo for next season. Since the logo was "accidentally" leaked out to the public, there has been strong backlash from Spartan fans across the globe through the media and social networks. I joined at least two anti-new logo groups on Facebook. Here are some of my favorite wall posts from the group Say NO to the new Spartan logo:

Whoever said out with the old in with the new is a douchebag

I'm a UofM fan and I feel bad for you guys...that takes a lot...

It looks like poop

We fear change!
Sparty on Garth

UM  must have been behind this terrible creation...

You get the point. In my mind, this "leaking" of the new logo was premeditated. I think Michigan State wanted to gauge fan reaction before they dropped this bombshell at the unveiling in April. Imagine if it was never leaked, and you woke up one sunny spring day to find that your new team logo was a hybrid of Jay Leno and an alien from District 9. PR nightmare for the athletic department.

I just think it's really cool to see the power that people with a common interest can have. Give yourself a pat on the back Sparty fans. You voiced your opinions, and they were heard. You didn't care how many annoying Facebook groups you had to made, or how many threatening tweets to the athletic department you sent, you were not going to sit in silence while this egregious act be committed to your beloved logo.

I wanted to wait a day or two to write this post so I would write this with a clear head. About 99% of the state of Michigan has a very strong allegiance to one side of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry. Though most of us have ties on both sides, few are bi-partisan. Michigan fans consider MSU to be a lot like their little brother: we cheer for you when you play other teams, because nobody better beat you up but us, dammit. Before you break out the "two football victories in a row, who's Little Brother now?" arguments, consider this: MSU will always be Little Brother to Michigan fans. The Wolverines could lose 10 straight to State and I'd still say that MSU is indeed Lil' Bro. And MSU fans, in true Little Brother fashion, will never understand.

But I digress. This post isn't about who's better (because my opinion should be painfully obvious by now), but rather whether or not Kalin Lucas should have been suspended for elbowing Michigan's Laval Lucas-Perry in the head on Tuesday night. In case you "forgot" what happened, here's the video. [via It's Just Sports]

I've watched the video a good 6-8 times now, and I'm even more of the mind that Lucas should see a suspension than I was on Tuesday. Like either Coach Beilein or Coach Izzo probably said the next day, let's break down the video. At the 0:05 mark, Lucas catches a pass from Chris Allen at the top of the 3-point arc with his left foot in front of his right. He crouches over, ball at his left hip/lower rib cage region with Lucas-Perry in his grill. Notice how Lucas-Perry's head is above Lucas'. Lucas pivots his right foot forward, turning his body to try to create space, but keeping the ball at the same left hip position. LLP gives no ground, but stays upright (i.e. his head is still above Lucas'). If you've stopped the video here, this is the calm before the storm (so to speak)

At the 0:06 mark, Lucas rips through to create space, catching LLP in the face with his right elbow. Rewind the video and watch this split-second part a few times. Notice how high Lucas has to bring his elbow in order to catch LLP in the face. Not only that, the replay shows a bit of a hitch (size of hitch may vary depending on school allegiance) by Lucas just before ripping through. Based on the video evidence, I think Lucas should have at least been ejected from Tuesday's game. I was hoping that the Big Ten would have reviewed this play, but apparently they're content with a runaway conference champion this year.

Editor's note: Friend of the blog, and big Michigan State enthusiast, Jake insisted on writing something after this game, so here he is weighing in with his short and sweet thoughts about No. 5 Michigan State's slim win over unranked Michigan on Tuesday night:

It was a good rivalry game in Ann Arbor. “The 3’s didn’t fall for Michigan” has become the calling card for why John Beilein’s teams cannot consistently win. The supporting cast to Manny Harris once again could not support the Big Ten’s leading scorer in his return from a suspension.  Harris sat on the bench for the first four minutes but played the entire game thereafter, and had 16 points.

The Wolverines can be dangerous when their long range shooters on target, but that happens once in a UConn moon.  They simply need more than players like Zack Novak (7 points, 1-7 from 3) and Stu Douglas (1-5 from 3) throwing up prayers from beyond NBA range five seconds into a possession. As a team, Michigan shot 7 for 29 from 3-point range (24.1%). They would have been better off bringing an aged, portly, Jalen Rose out of the crowd.

Raymar Morgan led the Spartans balanced attack, scoring a season-high 20 points. Reigning Big Ten Player of The Year Kalin Lucas had 12 points; Durrell Summers and Super Sophomore Draymond Green each had 10. Michigan State out-rebounded the wolverines 38 – 22 despite playing true centers for a combined two minutes. Michigan State is 8 – 0 in the Big Ten for the first time in school history and has beaten Michigan 17 times in the last 20 meetings.

Who's your Spartan/Wolverine? In the NBA that is. Whichever state of Michigan team your allegiance lies, there aren't a whole lot of alumni from either school to root for in the NBA. Let's face it, we make Duke look NBA-Prospect U. Izzo's guys are usually gritty, fundamentally sound (AKA not that talented) players who always seem to overachieve in the Tournament, while Michigan players are usually naturally talented, but always seem to find a way to choke (their girlfriends). So, I have compiled my without research, top-of-the-head current Michigan/Michigan State fantasy basketball squads in light of tonight's big game.

*Michigan:

PG-Jamal Crawford
SG-
SF-Brent Petway?
PF-Juwan Howard
C-Courtney Sims?

Michigan State:

PG-Charlie Bell
SG-Morris Peterson
SF-Jason Richardson
PF-Zach Randolph
C-Paul Davis

Announcers:

Jalen Rose (Michigan)
Magic Johnson (Michigan State)

*I have no idea if Petway or Sims are still in the League, and I don't think there is a shooting guard from Michigan in the League. And if there is, he probably sucks.

The two schools have a combined one All-Star (Howard), one Slam Dunk Champion (Richardson), and one talented, but childish/selfish player who looks like a gigantic baby (Randolph).

Yikes! that was a close one. Michigan State squeaked a road win out at the "Barn" of Minnesota today, 65-64. It was a good road test for the Spartans, who, up until this point, have only had two pedestrian road-conference wins--Northwestern and Iowa. Did that Spartans deserve to win? Debatable. They trailed throughout the entire game until under two minutes to go when Kalin Lucas hit a contested three to give the Spartans their first lead of the game at 65-62. But at the end of the day, only two categories matter--W's and L's--and those numbers are 7 and 0 for Michigan State in the Big Ten.

Michigan State had a hard time getting any offense going in the first 30-minutes of the game. Their interior game was virtually non-existent--on offense and defense--and they had a tough time finding a good offensive rhythm, but the Spartans hit some timely threes to keep them within striking distance. Kalin Lucas had a monster game and took the over the second-half, scoring 22 points and hitting the eventual game-winning three. Although Lucas played a superb game, the biggest story of the game was Raymar Morgan FINALLY stepping up in a big game. After getting his fourth foul early in the second-half, Morgan continued to play tough defense and gave the Spartans a much-needed second scoring option, dropping 10 of his 14 point in the second-half.

I have personally called Morgan's leadership into question in the past, who seems to disappear in big games, but he showed a lot of grit and poise today. Now the question is, can he sustain it and play like this consistently for the rest of the season? Fingers crossed, because the Spartans national championship hopes are depending on it...

According to MLive, Michigan State University will be unveiling a new logo this upcoming April. Apparently, the new insignia was discovered by a Spartan fan on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office official web site. According to Heather Swain, the Assistant Vice President for University Relations, the new look is "the result of a two-year collaboration between MSU Athletics and a team of top designers from Nike."

Two years? Top Designers? Wheww. To me, the new logo looks like the product of a 2nd grader trying to doodle Sparty during arts & crafts time. If MSU officials indeed make this Robo-Sparty a reality, they will be tossing aside a terrific classical take on the Spartan gladiator helmet. In my opinion, there is much to be said for tradition at college institutions. You don't see Notre Dame cashing in their infamous ND emblem for something more chic or Penn State adding any pizazz to their ageless helmets. Why? Because they're simple, tasteful and they just work.

While my allegiances lie with the Maize n' Blue, part of me sympathizes for my Spartan comrades. However, the other part of me just has to snicker as if my little brother just received a god-awful haircut. Sorry, little buddy.

You've heard the news, of course, but what exactly went on to lead to Mike Leach's firing at Texas Tech?

I've read multiple stories on the firing and the incident where Leach allegedly locked student-athlete, Adam James, son of ESPN analyst Craig James, in an 'electrical closet.'  It's fascinating.  Was this a disgruntled 2nd stringer who wanted to get his coach, who was already on thin ice because of previously contentious contract negotiations, in trouble by uglifying a somewhat normal procedure (sending an injured player to a training room during practice)?   Or was this strictly a zany move by a somewhat eccentric coach?  Despite the truth being under investigation, it resulted in Leach's firing and ESPN is now pretending we actually care about James' playing status for the Michigan State game.

As James' father said, it is indeed a 'delicate' situation.  Of course, if Adam was in fact locked in a 'closet,' or a confined space, for an appreciable amount of time, there could also be legal consequences for Leach (false imprisonment).  Common sense will tell you that putting a student-athlete in a small, dark room is no more normal as it is ethical.

Is that what really happened, though?

This is an alleged video of James in the closet that day, recorded on his phone.  Representatives of James' family gave this video to a TV station in Texas claiming it to be legit:

If that's a real video from that day, then it (as expected) doesn't line up with Leach's attorney's explanation:

My observations:   Leach's attorney is not articulate and thus, his stuttering makes him sound awful -- like he's lying.  It also seems somewhat odd that he's even doing the detailed TV interview in the first place. Ultimately, I'm not convinced by his side of things from this segment.

Then you have Adam James, who former teammates and Leach have called a slacker (Current teammates, however, back James).  James is the son of ESPN-analyst, Craig James, who supposedly hangs around his son & Texas Tech like a... leach (zing!)  With James' ties to ESPN, any story against Coach Leach would most likely be slanted in favor of the network affiliate's son, making it much easier to take to the public any of Leach's questionable coaching tactics.  As alluded to before, Leach's disagreements with Texas Tech regarding his contract and loyalty to the program already painted him on the wrong side of things.  It wouldn't surprise me one bit if this was all contrived as some sort of way to get rid of Leach, who has otherwise done nothing but amazing things for Texas Tech's program. I'm not typically gung-ho on intricate conspiracy theories, but there are a lot of variables at play here that could make it plausible.

What do you believe?

[ESPN]
[SB Nation -- who has an impressive, and obsessive, series of updates on this whole thing]
[Deadspin]

Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach was fired today after a bizarre incident where he allegedly shunned back-up wide receiver Adam James to an electrical closet. I've read all of the Joe Shad reports on the incident, and I still really don't know what to make of it. On one hand, it sounds like Adam James was being a spoiled, disgruntled brat, riding on the coat tails of his dad and SMU great Craig James. But on the other hand, I cannot fathom why Leach would send him to the dungeon for a concussion; it's just a weird situation.

Either way, it doesn't boad well for Michigan State.

That's the last thing the under-manned Spartans need is a rallying cry for the heavily-favored Red Raiders. Even though this will take the heat off of the Spartan program for cracking skulls at a residence hall, it's going to give Texas Tech extra motivation for the Valero Alamo Bowl. It seems to be split on current and former players who support Leach and support James, but nontheless, they all support intermin coach Ruffin McNeil and are now focused on the game this Satuday.

Some may view this as a distraction for Texas Tech with all of the national hoopla, but I think it's taking an already superior team to the Spartans and making them angry. And you don't want to make the Texas Tech offense angry.

Michigan State played 32 minutes of pretty darn good basketball against Texas last night. The as-good-as-advertised Longhorns finally pulled away with a late game surge and put the game out of reach. In the critical moments in the latter half of the game, the Spartans played poor perimeter defense and lacked a tough interior presence. But what was most evident was that Michigan State desperately needed senior leadership.

Michigan State's preseason ranking of #2 in the country was based off of their four returning starters from the 2008-2009 National Championship runner-up squad, including reigning Big Ten MVP Kalin Lucas. On paper they look like they are a top five team in the nation, but there is something missing from last year's team: veteran leadership from Goran Suton and Travis Walton.

Last night was another example of a team corralling Kalin Lucas and making someone else beat them, giving up way too many threes and steadiness at the post. The Spartans are getting inconsistent play from a few players, and one in particular needs to get called out.

Raymar Morgan is the lone senior on the team this year, and needs to step his game and his role on the team up drastically. The Texas game was yet another big game that Morgan was all but absent for. He got into early foul trouble again last night and only took five shots from the field. His versatility and athletisicm to play three positions, along with his veteran experience, are going to be crucial for this team to win the Big Ten and make a run into late March like last season.