Michigan got its best player back and picked up one of its best Big Ten wins of the season on Saturday.

Per usual, the Wolverines appear poised to peak at the right time under coach John Beilein.

Guard Zak Irvin scored 22 points and sparked a late run, helping Michigan rally past No. 18 Purdue 61-56 at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines (19-7, 9-4 Big Ten) scored the game's last 11 points and avenged a 17-point loss to Purdue in early January.

"For our team to win in a gritty, not pretty, performance is big for our growth," said Beilein, who moved past Steve Fisher into third place on the Wolverines' career win list with 185. "I think we grew up a lot today as a team, knowing that games are going to be tough, you're going to have be tougher."

Purdue led 50-45 midway through the second half, but Michigan kept it close. The Wolverines scored seven straight points during a late run that featured an Irvin 3-pointer and a foul-line jumper that gave Michigan a 57-56 lead with 1:04 to play.

Purdue guard Ryan Cline had an open look at a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left but missed, and Wolverines guard Derrick Walton Jr. connected on four straight free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal a huge Big Ten win for the Michigan.

Walton, who led the Wolverines in scoring in a win over Minnesota on Wednesday, missed his first nine shots from the field against Purdue.

"There was a point in the game where some people on my bench were saying, 'Get him out of there,'" Beilein said of Walton. "I said, 'The dude scored 26 points the other night. I'm not taking him out.' We rode him all the way down. He only made one (field goal), but he knocked those free throws down."

The game marked the return of Michigan guard Caris LeVert, who came off the bench after missing 11 games with a lower left leg injury. LeVert leads the Wolverines in scoring, assists and steals. He did not score in 11 minutes but grabbed five rebounds in his first action since late December.

"I was happy that Caris could get out there," Beilein said. "At the start of the second half, as we were warming up, he really felt out of shape and wobbly. Right now, I thought it was best to just shut him down. We wanted him to play 10-15 minutes. He played 11, and I think that was just about enough to get him ready for the next game."

Boilermakers forward Caleb Swanigan and center A.J. Hammons dominated inside the paint for stretches as Purdue led for the majority of the game. Swanigan finished with 14 points and Hammons added 10 points and four blocks. Center Isaac Haas had 11 points and five rebounds.

Hammons hit a jumper that put the Boilermakers up 56-50 with 3:17 to play, but Purdue didn't score again despite several up-close opportunities.

"We got the ball in the paint in the last three minutes and that's what you want to do," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "You want to get at the rim and try to get something or get fouled. Obviously, we came away with nothing."

Purdue was coming off a big win over No. 8 Michigan State but couldn't back it up. The Boilermakers were outrebounded for the first time this season.

Purdue (20-6, 8-5) jumped out to an early 23-13 lead. Michigan made only 1 of 7 from 3-point range in the first half. But the Boilermakers only led by four at halftime.

Painter thought the lead should have been more.

"We missed two front ends of one-and-ones, had some attempts right at the basket," Painter said. "We had the ball at the basket too much and didn't have the points necessary to really match it. That was our fault. We felt like we should have been up 10 at half."

The teams began the day in a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten. Michigan is at Ohio State on Tuesday. Purdue hosts Northwestern on Tuesday.

NOTES: Michigan coach John Beilein and his staff wore special bright yellow "#ChadTough" T-shirts to support the Chad Tough Foundation, which aims to raise awareness for an inoperable brain tumor that took the life of the Chad Carr, the grandson of former Wolverines football coach Lloyd Carr. ... The Boilermakers are the only the team in the nation that hasn't been outrebounded in a game this season. ... Purdue ranks in the top 30 in the nation in rebound margin, assists per game, scoring margin, field goal percentage defense, assist-to-turnover ratio and blocked shots.