Shields, who has averaged 28.5 ppg since missing four games with a concussion, was spectacular in his final regular-season home appearance. The 6-foot-7 senior hit 11 of 19 shots and went 6-for-6 from the line, but was the only Nebraska (14-16, 6-11 Big Ten) player to finish in double figures.

Purdue (23-7, 11-6 Big Ten) relied on a balanced attack as Vince Edwards" 20 points led four Boilermakers in double figures. A.J. Hammons had 16 while Dakota Mathias and Caleb Swanigan added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as Purdue shot 56 percent from the field, including 7-of-15 from 3-point range.

Edwards scored 10 of his 12 first-half points in a decisive 23-4 spurt that gave the Boilermakers a 30-11 lead with 7:43 left in the half. Nebraska chipped away in the final eight minutes of the half behind the play of Shields, who scored 19 first-half points on 7-of-11 shooting. Shields had nine points in a 14-2 run the pulled NU within 32-23 after an Ed Morrow Jr. basket with 3:28 left in the half.

Photo Courtesy Scott Bruhn/Nebraska Communications

Shavon Shields led all scorers, Tuesday night, with his 32 points against Purdue.

NU eventually whittled it down to six points, at 39-33, after a Tai Webster steal and layup with 11.3 seconds remaining before intermission, but Mathias was fouled with less than a second left and converted both free throws to push the lead back to 41-33 at the break.

In the second half, NU got the deficit to eight on several occasions, the last at 52-44 after a Glynn Watson Jr. basket with 12:38 left, but Purdue took over. The Boilermakers then took over, using a 10-2 spurt, including 3-pointers by Ryan Cline and Dakota Mathias, to extend the lead to 16, and NU was unable to get the deficit back into under 10 the rest of the day.

Tai Webster had nine points and eight boards, while Ed Morrow Jr. had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting off the bench in a losing effort.

The Huskers travel to Northwestern Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will be televised on BTN and carried across the state on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network.

Postgame Notes

Head Coach Tim Miles Quotes

Opening Statement

"First of all it, was great to recognize our seniors (Benny Parker and Shavon Shields) and honor them because they've been terrific kids to coach. If you had to start a program, I don't think you can find two finer people to do it with.

To the game. I thought this was a game where we were outmatched physically. There"s no question. I think at the end whether it was resignation or disappointment, you kind of get that. The middle run in the first half was what frustrated me the most. We didn't make multiple efforts and when you're outmatched and you're physically disadvantaged you've got to have this urgency and intensity on the ball everywhere and we just didn't have that. I think that was disappointing and I don't know if quite frankly we were intimidated with some of our guys or what it was but I didn't have them in the right place mentally, obviously.

The one thing we have to do is be able to fight and we at least ended the half with fighters out there. Ed (Morrow Jr.) and I thought Nick Fuller did a great job of getting that thing back to a workable number or a few possession game so we could go out and feel like we could compete in the second half and feel like we can win."

On the lack of help for Shavon tonight

"Our starting guards go 6-26. We ran all kinds of actions to try and get Andrew (White III) going. There's some things that I believe he could do better for himself. Run harder in transition, rip pivot and drive to try and get to the foul line, he hasn't been to the foul line much in the last two games. There"s some things you have to be able to do. Everyone goes through a little funk and certainly that injury threw him off, but now I think he's healthy and we"ve got to get him back on track. I think Benny (Parker) was pressing. This night can do that to guys. Tai (Webster) had a tough night."

On regaining a home court advantage

"We've got good players and I think we're losing a heart and soul guy and a really good player. I think we've got a really good player sitting out. I think we are bringing in two really solid recruits and we need another center. You never know what else might happen with roster management. I hope it doesn't but at the same time I know we need to add pieces to this puzzle and we're adding three more pieces next year, that'll be good barring we don't lose anyone of critical nature. I think we'll get better and better from this."

On the mental state of the team

"I thought tonight there was true disappointment, frustration and even resignation, which really bothered me. I think they resigned to we can' handle these guys. It's such a bad matchup that I don't know what we can do. You could see it in the second half in the last six minutes of the game when we couldn't get it under fourteen again."

Shavon Shields & Tai Webster Quotes

On the lead Purdue had from the beginning and what the plan was to close the gap Shields: "They were getting whatever they wanted. They got easy layups, a lot of good threes and stuff like that. When you leave a good team like that wide open, good things are going to happen."

On how important playing a strong game on Senior Night was Shields: "I really don't care about it because we didn't win. That is all I have to say about it."

On the issues regarding 3-point shots Shields: "We're a small team so we have to make up for it in other ways so sometimes that leads to open shots, but if we want to be a good defensive team you have to make multiple efforts and we haven't been doing that. It leads to open threes and they've been making them."

On what the team talked about at half time Webster: "Just that we know we have been in this position before you know it seems like and one of the things we are used to this season. Just not to give up and not go out on them on a note like that. We can make plays and bring it back then great, but if not at least go out full effort."

On playing with big guys like those on Purdue Webster: "It is pretty overwhelming to be honest and we try to put such an emphasis on guiding them inside, throwing different looks at them and stuff like that and then that leads to stuff like open threes and stuff like that. It is pretty tough."

Purdue Coach Matt Painter

What did you like about the start to this game?

They obviously mixed it up and went some zone and some man-to-man, and I thought we adjusted on the switch and were able to get some good looks and get the ball into the high post against their zone. Then we were able to get it inside and score the ball a couple times, and as it went on, we were able to get some inside-outside looks from the perimeter. We had a really good balance. We knew they were going to make a run at us there in the first half, and obviously Shields got really hot-he was close to unstoppable. The shots he was making were really tough shots. But, I thought our guys did a good job in the first half just hanging in there and trying to execute on the offensive end. Then in the second half, we were able to make more runs and push the lead out."

It seemed Raphael (Davis) didn"t look too good on the floor, do you attribute that to the game Shields played?

I just thought Shields was really good. A couple times, we didn"t take up his space, but he isn't a high volume three-point shooter, and he made a couple tough ones. You want to do your best to keep him in front of you and score over you, but he was getting some angles and doing a good job of getting Raphael on his hip and then hitting that little floater that he's known for.

Haas only played a couple minutes in the second half, is he okay?

Yeah, he's fine. The guy that plays in front of him is pretty good.

Another game with good perimeter shooting. Are you seeing a positive trend with selection, approaches?

I think the fewer three's we shoot, the more we make. We don't need to be a high-volume 3-point shooting team. We need to be able to probe the defense, move the basketball, drive the ball, takes some three's, hit some intermediate shots, but also, our bread and butter is posting up and getting the ball inside. A healthy balance is what we count on. Sometimes people are going to give us more than the other, but that doesn't mean we need to necessarily always take it unless we get to the end of the shot clock.

Your kids look pretty calm and collected tonight, have you been that way on the road?

Yeah, we've just turned the ball over too much on the road. We've had home games that way-we turned the ball over against Maryland, we turned the ball over against Michigan State, and we were very fortunate to beat them with a high number of turnovers. At our last road game against Indiana, we shot 59% and got beat because the 13 turnovers we had seemed like pick sixes. But tonight, we didn't have as many turnovers and they didn't lead directly to baskets all the time.

Hill started the second half tonight. Is there something you're seeing from him?

I thought he had more energy. I thought he played better, and so we wanted to have a good start to the second half. I thought he did a really good job for us getting some energy and taking care of the basketball-he didn't turn it over-and he had six assists. He and Mathias gave us good momentum, and then Cline gave us some good minutes off the bench, so that was good to see. And obviously Haas has been very consistent for us.

What has Hill meant to this team this year?

He's done a good job all year of getting offensive rebounds. He just kind of floats, waits for those long rebounds to come his way, and attacks them. Tonight he only got one, but he's had some really good nights just keeping balls alive and also being able to get us some extra possessions.

Did you like what you got from Vince?

Vince had a good game. He was aggressive, and that"s what we need him to do. We need him to be able to look for that drive, look for that shot because when he does that and they guard him closely, that really opens up things for our post guys. So that really helps us with our spacing.