Maalik Wayns scored 21 points and Dominic Cheek added 20 as Villanova shook off its offensive struggles to breeze past visiting DePaul 87-71 Sunday.

Mouphtaou Yarou chipped in 14 points and reserve JayVaughn Pinkston had 13 for Villanova (8-8, 1-3 Big East), which was last in the Big East in field-goal percentage but shot 56 percent Sunday.

The Wildcats were coming off a 74-57 home loss to South Florida on Thursday that made them 0-3 in conference play for the first time since joining in 1980-81.

Wayns and Cheek, who were benched for the tip-off Thursday, started against DePaul (10-5, 1-2 Big East) and combined to net half of the Wildcats' first-half points.

Villanova took advantage of the league's worst field-goal percentage defense and led 48-36 at halftime. The Wildcats shot 62.5 (15-for-24) percent from the floor to produce their biggest scoring half since the season opener against Monmouth.

They also curtailed their woeful outside shooting – Villanova entered at 29.7 percent while hoisting 21.3 3-pointers per game, but attempted only six in the first half. The Wildcats buried four, and by not settling for perimeter shots got to the line frequently and went 14-for-20 on free throws.

Brandon Young had 22 points and Cleveland Melvin 19 for DePaul, which had beaten Pittsburgh 84-81 Thursday for just its third league win since 2008-09. The Blue Demons didn't get closer than eight points in the second half.