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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spartans Foil Gu With Buzzer-Beater

Associated Press

Gonzaga coach Dan Monson wasn’t surprised that a putback at the buzzer by Michigan State’s Jason Klein beat his team in the championship game of the Spartan Classic.

“It was an unfortunate basket to lose on, but it was probably poetic justice that it would end on a rebound,” Monson said Saturday after the host Spartans pulled out a 70-68 men’s basketball victory.

Gonzaga’s Bakari Hendrix blocked Mateen Cleaves’ driving layup, but the ball went to Klein, who laid it in from the left side of the basket.

“The ball went through a couple of hands and I just scooped it and it went in,” Klein said.

It was the first loss of the season for Gonzaga (5-1), which won the Top of the World Classic last Sunday with a victory over No. 5 Clemson.

Freshman Andre Hutson led Michigan State (3-1) with a season-high 13 points. David Thomas, Cleaves, Morris Peterson and Klein each scored 10 points.

Cleaves had a career-high 11 assists, while Thomas grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Spartans gain a 41-22 edge on the boards.

“The biggest key to the game was giving them so many extra opportunities,” Monson said. “They’re so quick to the ball and stronger than we are and they made all the plays.”

Spartans coach Tom Izzo was relieved to come away with the victory.

“That’s a very good team, and on film they look better than they looked the last two nights,” he said of Gonzaga. “I think you’ll see this team end up in the NCAA Tournament.”

Michigan State led for most of the game, but the Bulldogs went ahead 58-57 on a jumper by Matt Santangelo with 4-1/2 minutes left.

The Spartans led 68-64 with just under a minute to go after a 3-pointer by Klein, but Gonzaga tied the game on layups by Hendrix and Santangelo, the second coming with 9.8 seconds remaining.

Michigan State was ahead 36-26 at halftime and the Spartans stretched the margin to 14 points early in the second half. Guard Quentin Hall sparked Gonzaga’s comeback with 11 of his 13 points in the second half.

Gonzaga led 17-14 before Peterson ignited an 18-2 run by the Spartans to give them a 32-19 lead.

Hendrix had 11 of the Bulldogs’ first 17 points, but sat out much of the half after picking up his third foul.

Hendrix led Gonzaga with 19 points, and Richie Frahm had 14.

Monson felt GU learned from this tournament.

“Everything in Alaska came pretty easy. We only trailed one time in the whole tournament,” he said. “This was our first real road game, but we showed some character, we executed our best when we needed to at the end of the game and gave ourselves a chance to win.”

Hendrix was named to the all-tournament team.

Michigan State 70, Gonzaga 68

GONZAGA (5-1) - Leasure 2-5 0-0 5, Hendrix 6-10 7-8 19, Dench 3-5 1-2 7, Santangelo 4-13 2-2 10, Frahm 5-10 1-1 14, Hall 5-9 0-0 13, Floyd 0-0 0-0 0, Nilson 0-0 0-0 0, Calvary 0-1 0-0 0, Griffin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 11-13 68.

MICHIGAN STATE (3-1) - Thomas 4-5 2-2 10, Hutson 5-7 3-5 13, Smith 4-7 0-2 8, Cleaves 3-13 2-3 10, Bell 0-4 3-4 3, Peterson 5-7 0-0 10, Granger 1-2 0-0 2, Klein 4-9 0-0 10, Wiley 2-7 0-0 4. Totals 28-61 10-16 70.

Halftime - Michigan State 36, Gonzaga 26. 3-point goals - Gonzaga 7-21 (Hall 3-5, Frahm 3-8, Leasure 1-3, Dench 0-1, Calvary 0-1, Santangelo 0-3), Michigan State 4-15 (Klein 2-5, Cleaves 2-7, Bell 0-1, Peterson 0-2). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Gonzaga 22 (Hendrix 6), Michigan State 41 (Thomas 10). Assists - Gonzaga 12 (Santangelo 5), Michigan State 17 (Cleaves 11). Total fouls - Gonzaga 15, Michigan State 14. A - 14,197.