Then, after all the ties (three), one-point deficits (five) and two-point deficits (four), Durrell Summers took the game into his own hands.

The junior guard hit a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining to give MSU a one-point lead, then sealed the victory with the game’s final two points from the free-throw line, as the Spartans beat Gonzaga 75-71 on Tuesday night at Breslin Center.

“Big win for us, because I didn’t think we played real well,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “And I think, for the most part, Gonzaga took it to us for at least 30 minutes of that game and they really played well.”

In MSU’s second game of the season, the Spartans were in the midst of a rough, tough and adversity-filled battle — Big Ten-style basketball in November.

The Spartans put themselves in a significant hole to open the game, making just three field goals in the game’s first 11 minutes while committing 10 turnovers during the span, finding themselves down by as many as 13 points midway through the first half. But eventually, MSU chipped away and went into halftime down 35-30.

“They were playing our style of basketball,” said junior guard Kalin Lucas, who finished with 19 points and five assists. “They were playing real hard and physical and we weren’t, and we were only down by five points and we weren’t playing good ball. Coach told us we had to tighten up, and that’s what we did.”

From there, the intense, see-saw battle was on.

A 15-foot jumper by senior forward Raymar Morgan pulled MSU within three, 43-40, six minutes into the half, and after Gonzaga’s Matt Bouldin hit a jumper out of a timeout, Lucas drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 45.

A put-back by freshman center Derrick Nix midway through the half gave MSU its first lead since the game’s first basket, but Gonzaga continued to hold off MSU, pulling ahead by seven.

And that trend continued, no matter what MSU did.

A jumper by junior guard Chris Allen brought MSU within one, 57-56, but two free throws by Robert Sacre (17 points) and a jumper by Elias Harris (17 points) once again pulled Gonzaga away.

Summers twice put MSU within two — once on a jumper and another time on a high-flying and-one conversion — but, once again, it didn’t last.

However, Summers, who finished with a double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds) wouldn’t be denied a third time. The 6-foot-4 guard took a pass from Lucas for a lay-up on the block, tying the game at 65.

Then, he nailed his three-pointer, giving MSU just its third lead of the game.

“I just came off and tried to get as high as I could and let it go,” Summers said. “I thought if something happens, it happens. It was a great play for us.

A lay-up by Morgan on a feed from Allen with 1:47 left gave MSU a four-point lead, and after a put-back by Gonzaga’s Steven Gray to pull the Bulldogs closer, a lay-up by Lucas extended MSU’s lead to three.

Lucas had 19 points and five assists for the Spartans, while Morgan — who left momentarily after suffering an ankle injury in the first half — finished with 16 points in what Izzo called “one of the more heroic performances I’ve seen during my time here.”

Morgan said he’d be getting “a lot” of treatment on his ankle — not the one he sprained during the preseason — in the next few days, but was more focused on MSU’s close win.

“A win’s the most important thing,” Morgan said. “We realized we didn’t play well, we have some things we need to touch up on, but we’ll review that in practice and in film and go from there.”