WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Schedule a game on Jan. 30 in Mackey Arena against an opponent wearing red and Purdue 7-footer A.J. Hammons' skill set surfaces to the maximum.

Now a senior, Hammons had a career-best 32 points to go with 11 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and a steal on Saturday, leading the No. 21 Boilermakers to an 89-74 victory over red-clad Nebraska.

Hammons made 14 of 17 shots from the field and was 4 of 4 from the line in his finest game as a college player, even better than the 30 points he scored Jan. 30, 2013 in a loss to rival Indiana, which like Nebraska, wears red.

"I just had a lot of energy at the beginning," Hammons said of his big day. "Coach said to just be sure to get locked in all day, so I have been trying to get locked in. I made sure I kept attacking the rim, and when they got early fouls, I tried to keep going."

Hammons never stopped attacking, producing an even better game than the 16 points and eight rebounds he had Wednesday in a four-point victory at Minnesota.

"For him, it's all about posting strong and making good decisions," Purdue coach Matt Painter said of Hammons. "Today, he posted up hard, and you can do that when you have that kind of talent.

"We also had our best passing game this season (27 assists on 33 made field goals), and Rapheal Davis got into a rhythm and knocked those (four 3-pointers) down."

Hammons, 7-foot-2 sophomore center Isaac Haas and 6-9 power forward Caleb Swanigan combined for 51 points and 24 rebounds against the smaller Cornhuskers, who had won three consecutive Big Ten road games, including a victory at No. 11 Michigan State.

Senior guard Rapheal Davis added 17 points and six rebounds, Haas had 13 points and Swanigan contributed six points, 12 rebounds and five assists as the Boilermakers (19-4, 7-3 Big Ten) improved to 5-0 all time against Nebraska (12-10, 4-5) in Mackey Arena.

"The big thing today was being able to make shots when A.J. and Isaac were playing well, and Caleb also played well, which allowed us to stretch their defense," Davis said. "Like all the other teams, they were trying to take away the post, but today, we were able to make shots, which has been a long time coming."

The Boilermakers were 7 of 12 from 3-point range and finished 33 of 56 from the field (58.9 percent).

"They got 45 points from their two bigs and 21 points on 3s," Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. "You can't give up both. I thought Rapheal Davis' four 3-pointers were more dagger-ish than A.J.'s dunks.

"We knew he would get some of those. Maybe if we would have started in the front sooner, he may not have gotten those early ones. He is a physical presence, and we don't have that right now."

Guard Andrew White scored 18 points and forward Shavon Shields had 16 for Nebraska, which had no answer 7-footers Hammons and Haas, who combined for 45 points.

Purdue got a 3-pointer from Davis and a baseline jumper from forward Swanigan to increase its lead to 76-65 with 6:16 to play. Hammons bettered his career high on a dunk with 4:28 remaining for a 78-65 advantage.

Davis' 3-pointer gave Purdue a 61-51 lead with 12:34 remaining, but back-to-back baskets from Shields and Glynn Watson Jr. trimmed the Nebraska deficit to 61-55 with 11:49 to play.

A Watson Jr. 3-pointer with 12:52 left capped an 8-0 Nebraska run and sliced the Purdue lead to 58-51, prompting a Boilermakers timeout.

An offensive rebound dunk by Hammons at the first-half buzzer gave Purdue a 44-35 lead through 20 minutes. A 3-pointer by guard Ryan Cline with 38 seconds left had given the Boilermakers a 42-35 advantage.

Hammons had an 18-point first half and Haas added 11, and the two were a combined 11 of 14 from the field during the first 20 minutes. White had 11 first-half points for Nebraska.

Purdue shot 51.7 percent (15 of 29) in the first half and Nebraska shot 43.3 percent (13 of 30). The Boilermakers outrebounded the Cornhuskers 18-14 before intermission.

NOTES: Nebraska entered Saturday's game 4-4 in the Big Ten -- 1-3 at home and 3-1 on the road. ... In G Andrew White III (16.9 points) and F Shavon Shields (15.8), Nebraska has the Big Ten's Nos. 6 and 8 scorers, respectively. ... The Cornhuskers had won three consecutive conference road games and were trying to reach four for the first time since the 1975-76 season when Nebraska was a member of the Big Eight (now the Big 12). ... Purdue entered having won 19 of its 20 most recent home games, losing only to third-ranked Iowa on Jan. 2. ... The Boilermakers lead the nation in rebounding margin at plus-12.1 and have outrebounded each of their first 23 opponents. ... Purdue honored its "Three-Peat" Big Ten championship teams of 1994, '95 and '96. ... Freshman F Caleb Swanigan returned to the Purdue starting lineup after missing Wednesday's game at Minnesota with a sprained right ankle.