"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 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 tournament 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."
Spartan 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."
Izzo was also pleased with the way Michigan State played.
"It was a gutty effort and at times we played very good basketball," he said. "To outrebound a team by almost 20 that we thought we'd have trouble with, was a great job."
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