Toronto, Ont – (BasketballBuzz) – The showcase tour for Wisconsin Sophomore Forward Sam Dekker hit Canada’s basketball capital as the Badgers took on Toronto’s Ryerson University Rams.
Playing without their starting conference all-star back-court of point guard Jamal Jones (15.3 PPG) and shooting guard Aaron Best (15.4 PPG) and several key players the Rams struggled to contain the Wisconsin Badgers their superior size and physicality and dropped a 84-61 decision to kick off the 2013-14 season at the Mattamy Athletic center.
Sam Dekker scored a game-high 18 points with 16 in first-half and with 10 of them coming in the first quarter where the Rams were held to just 10 points. Dekker a projected 2014 NBA pick added four rebounds and three assists. All but one Badgers player hit score sheet with all players seeng at least 10 minutes of game action.
Ryerson Rams got a strong game from fifth-year senior Jordon Gauthier who drilled 4-out-6 three-pointers to finish with a game high 24 points and five rebounds and was the only Rams player in double-digits.
The Badgers will wrap up the the Canadian exhibition tour with one last Game against “A” Game hoops a Canadian squad made up for main semi-pro players. The Rams won’t return to action until early October and will take on two more NCAA Division I teams when it takes on the Dayton Flyers on October 26th and the Syracuse Orange on November 5th.
