WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After talking the talk and viewing themselves as the top college basketball team in the nation, it was time for the Wolverines to walk the walk.

In their first game with a consensus No. 1 national ranking, they did just that in a top-10 tilt against the preseason No. 1 team at a place that’s been a house of horrors in recent years.

Behind a strong first half and a balanced attack, top-ranked Michigan staved off a late push by No. 7 Purdue for a 91-80 win on Tuesday at Mackey Arena.

Elliot Cadeau had 17 points and seven assists to lead six double-digit scorers and Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara each had a double-double for Michigan (25-1, 15-1 Big Ten), which won at Mackey Arena for the first time since 2021.

The Wolverines have won 11 straight, improved to 6-0 against ranked opponents and lead the Big Ten by 2.5 games with four conference contests remaining.

Michigan was run out of the building by Purdue its past two trips to Mackey Arena, with a 27-point beatdown last season and a 32-point blowout the year prior. The Wolverines flipped the script this time around. They led by as much as 20 in the first half, by 16 at the break and never relinquished control after halftime, even though Purdue made a push.

Michigan had turnovers on three consecutive possessions early in the second half and Purdue took advantage with six straight points to bring the crowd back to life. Braden Smith, after a scoreless first half, hit a baseline jumper over Mara and made two free throws after drawing a foul on Johnson to cut it to 51-38 with 17:10 left.

Cadeau countered with a deep 3-pointer before a live-ball turnover led to a fast-break dunk for Nimari Burnett that stemmed the tide, calmed things down and made it an 18-point game.

Purdue wouldn’t go away quietly and chipped away during a back-and-forth stretch. Trey Kaufman-Renn took advantage of mismatches in the post, including one where he dropped Cadeau to the court with a spin move. Smith buried a 3-pointer. The Boilermakers cut it to 60-47.

Cadeau, though, answered with baskets of his own to keep Purdue at bay. Then when Purdue cut the deficit to 13 again on a Smith 3-pointer at the 9:46 mark, Cadeau immediately countered by finding Trey McKenney for a deep ball.

The Wolverines kept responding when the Boilermakers threatened to cut it to single digits. After Oscar Cluff stripped Cadeau and scored on the other end to make it 69-58, Yaxel Lendeborg found McKenney the next trip down for a corner 3-pointer.

When a three-point play by Kaufman-Renn cut it to 74-63 at the 5:11 mark, Johnson drew a foul on a possession where he grabbed two offensive rebounds and made two free throws to make it a 13-point margin.

Then when Smith made two free throws to make it 79-68 with 3:34 to go, Lendeborg had a sequence where he blocked a 3-pointer by C.J. Cox, corralled the ball and found McKenney for a fast-break layup to push the lead back to 13.

The Boilermakers kept pushing and eventually cut it to single digits three times down the stretch. Foster Loyer made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot by McKenney. A turnover by Lendeborg led to a fast-break layup the other way. Purdue pulled within 81-73 with 2:28 to go.

That’s as close as the Boilermakers would get as the Wolverines held them off. L.J. Cason made two clutch free throws. Johnson scored six in a row for Michigan and followed a Jack Benter 3-pointer that made it 86-78 in the final minute with an and-1 dunk to seal it.

Cason, McKenney and Lendeborg scored 13 apiece, Johnson finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Mara had 10 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late for Michigan, which won the rebounding battle 39-31.

Kaufman-Renn had 27 points and 12 rebounds, Smith scored 20 — all in the second half — and Loyer added 11 points for Purdue (21-5, 11-4), which had its four-game win streak snapped.

Purdue threw the first punch and had Mackey Arena rocking early on. The Wolverines missed five of their first six shots, including several open 3-pointers, and had a turnover. The Boilermakers made three shots in a row to grab a quick five-point lead in the opening four minutes.

The Wolverines eventually settled in and ripped off a 24-4 run over a six-minute stretch. Lendeborg hit a 3-pointer during a possession where Michigan grabbed two offensive rebounds. On the next trip down, Lendeborg drove into the lane and found Roddy Gayle Jr. for a corner 3-pointer that gave Michigan its first lead.

The spurt ended with a string of 16 unanswered points as Michigan shared the ball and forced contested shots. Cadeau connected with Lendeborg and Mara on a pair of alley-oop feeds. Mara threw a wraparound pass in the paint to Gayle for a layup. Another offensive rebound led to a second-chance 3-pointer by L.J. Cason. Purdue missed seven consecutive shots and went scoreless for over four minutes.

A five-point possession capped the flurry. A coach’s challenge by Dusty May led to Purdue’s Oscar Cluff being called for a hook-and-hold flagrant foul on Trey McKenney after a review. McKenney made both technical free throws and Will Tschetter followed with a 3-pointer to make it 26-11 with 9:28 left in the first half.

After Purdue cut the deficit to 10, the Wolverines got hot from deep to widen the margin. An offensive rebound by Lendeborg led to a second-chance 3-pointer by McKenney. Cadeau hit a deep 3 then made an extra pass to Lendeborg for a deep ball. Mara grabbed two offensive rebounds on one trip that led to another second-chance 3-pointer by Burnett.

Just like that, four 3-pointers within the span of three-and-a-half minutes gave Michigan a commanding 42-22 lead at the 4:23 mark.

A strong closing stretch from Mara, including a blocked shot and a three-point play, capped Michigan’s dominant half on the glass and in the paint, as the Wolverines took a 48-32 lead into the break.

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