Basketball Game Preview: Monroe Hornets vs. Franklin Wildcats

Monroe is 2-8 against Franklin since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Monroe Hornets will welcome the Franklin Wildcats at 7:15 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Last Tuesday, Monroe ended up a good deal behind Carlisle and lost 62-47.

Meanwhile, Franklin unfortunately witnessed the end of their seven-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of Waynesville by a score of 41-38. The matchup marked the Wildcats' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Monroe will have to keep a close watch on Kai Cook and Kendol Roberts, a pair of players who had a big impact on Franklin's prior game. Cook went 7 for 16 on his way to 18 points and eight boards, while Roberts went 5 of 12 en route to 13 points. That was a full 47.4% of Franklin's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lincoln Clark, who scored two points and four steals.

Monroe's loss dropped their record down to 8-5. As for Franklin, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 7-2.

Monroe couldn't quite finish off Franklin when the teams last played back in December of 2024 and fell 59-56. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cook, who went 11 for 16 on his way to 30 points. Now that Monroe knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.