ROSEMONT, Ill. -- It was hard to avoid the hoopla after becoming the nation's No. 1 college basketball team this week but Villanova still managed to take care of business on Tuesday.

The Wildcats (21-3, 11-1 Big East) put five players in double figures and never trailed in an 86-59 Big East victory over DePaul at Allstate Arena.

"I thought we came out very focused," said Villanova coach Jay Wright. "It's the first time any of us have gone through it. Everybody was talking about being No. 1 and we were trying to talk about DePaul.

"I really credit our seniors with keeping our guys focused. We've got a pretty mature team."

Villanova took over the top spots in both national polls this week after previous leader Oklahoma tumbled following an 80-69 upset loss last Saturday at Kansas State.

Villanova guard Josh Hart scored a game-high 18 points, forward Darryl Reynolds had 14, forward Kris Jenkins scored 13 and forward Daniel Ochefu and guard Jalen Brunson each added 11 as Villanova won its fourth straight and 13th in 14 games.

The Wildcats also opened a three-game Big East lead following second-place Xavier's 70-56 loss at Creighton.

Guard Eli Cain scored 15 points -- his fourth straight game in double figures -- while forward Myke Henry pulled down 11 rebounds for DePaul (8-16, 2-10), which upset No. 20 Providence last week but has dropped four of its last five.

The Blue Demons shot 40.8 percent and committed 19 turnovers.

"We needed to play our A Game against Villanova," said DePaul coach Dave Leitao. "When you turn over 19 times you haven't played your A game."

The Wildcats led 41-29 at halftime and pushed the advantage to 50-29 in the first 1:55 of the second half on three straight 3-pointers, including two from Jenkins.

Villanova scored 15 consecutive points for a 56-29 lead before DePaul center Tommy Hamilton IV broke the run with a 3-pointer at the 15:06 mark.

"It was a great start to the second half and that really got us going," said Wright. "We just carried it from there."

The Wildcats' lead never dipped under 23 points the rest of the way. Villanova shot 48.3 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Blue Demons 34-30.

The Wildcats opened a quick 8-0 lead and never trailed as Hart scored 11 first-half points -- including two of his team's four 3-pointers -- while Villanova opened leads as large as 14 points.

On the other end, the Wildcats' defensive play kept DePaul from an effective response.

"Defensively they just crowd the basketball, they crowd the floor, they play inside-out adjust make it very difficult," Leitao said. "They change defenses. Sometimes they start with a man and go to zone. They've got a three-quarter court which slows the game down which is kind of the way they like it."

Still, DePaul trimmed the deficit to single digits at 37-29 on Cain's three-point play with 1:44 showing in the first half before layups from Ochefu and guard Mikal Bridges in the final minute gave the Wildcats a 41-29 halftime lead.

Villanova is the first Big East team to top the national rankings since the league's 2013 realignment when football-playing schools left to form the American Athletic Conference.

NOTES: Villanova's No. 1 Associated Press ranking is a program first, while the Wildcats last topped the coaches' poll in 1985, their only other appearance atop any rankings. ... G Josh Hart surpassed 1,000 points for his career (1,003). ... Junior F Darryl Reynolds earned Big East honor roll mention after averaging 11.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in two games last week. ... Villanova is the second top-ranked team ever to face DePaul at Allstate Arena. In 2012, No. 1 Syracuse beat the Blue Demons 87-68 in Rosemont. DePaul also hosted No. 1 Duke on Feb. 24, 1999, at the United Center, a 96-64 loss. ... Senior F Myke Henry landed Big East honors after averaging 24.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two games last week. ... Villanova hosts St. John's on Saturday while DePaul is idle until it visits St. John's on Feb. 17.