Ramblings after VCU’s 78-68 victory at UNC Wilmington Wednesday:

* VCU coach Anthony Grant saw UNCW forward Todd Hendley in the media room after Wednesday’s game. They embraced and then chatted for a bit. Grant has known Hendley since Hendley was in high school and attended basketball camps at the University of Florida. Grant was an assistant there for 10 years. Asked about the clutch ability of Rams’ point guard Eric Maynor, Grant talked about Hendley as well. He had 13 of his 15 points in the second half. “[Eric’s] got a great will to win,“ Grant said. “He’s a big-time competitor. What’s impressive to me is Todd Hendley. His will to win, his competitiveness, it’s something to sit on the other bench and admire the way he goes after it. Maynor’s got those qualities.“

* The victory ended a 10-year winless streak for VCU at Wilmington’s Trask Coliseum. Seniors Jesse Pellot-Rosa and B.A. Walker hadn’t won there in three tries. “We were mainly worried about trying to keep ourselves in position for first place, control our own destiny,“ Pellot-Rosa said. “As far as me and B.A. not getting a win here, that was gratifying, too.“

* Pellot-Rosa joined the 1,000 point club with an 18-point night. He had 999 going in. Walker’s 14 points gave him 1,387 and moved him past Bernard Harris and into 11th place on the career list. Tyron McCoy holds the 10th spot with 1,456 points.

* Trask has been acknowledged by coaches as the toughest place to play in the CAA, but it wasn’t a very hostile atmosphere for the Rams. The crowd was listed as 5,233. The number of fannies in the seats wasn’t even half that.

* Grant on VCU’s defense, which drew his wrath after UNCW shot 61.9 percent in the first half: “I thought, for the most part, Wilmington’s effort was better than ours, especially in the first half. As a coach, our guys have to understand these opportunities don’t come by every day. We’ve got to start to take advantage of that and cherish these moments. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been part of several teams that played for championships. As a basketball team right now, I’d be lying if I said that we are cherishing and taking advantage of the opportunity we have before us.“

* More Grant: “In the first half, everything we expected [from the scouting report] to happen, happened. And we were unwilling or unable to do anything about it. As a coach, that’s alarming.“

* Maynor, assessing why VCU has lulls on defense: “We do it well in spurts. Sometimes it’s about helping each other. Sometimes people don’t know their assignments.“