ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A spot in the Sweet 16 was up for grabs on Saturday (Mar. 8) night, with Franklin facing WashU in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
 
The Grizzlies (22-8) saw their magical run come to an end, as they fell to the Bears (21-6) 83-54.
 
How it Happened
The Bears jumped out to an early 12-4 lead but Franklin hung around as the first half wore on. A 10-2 Franklin run midway through the first half evened things up at 22 with 5:14 to go in the first half and forced a WashU timeout. That short break proved to be a pivotal decision for the home side, as they closed out the first half on a 14-2 run to take a 36-24 lead into the break.
 
Franklin's offense struggled to get going in the second half and the Bears pulled away over the final 20 minutes. Franklin connected on just 25.6% (10-for-39) of their second half shots while WashU hit on 66.7% (18-for-27) of their field goals.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Cooper Matthews finished with a game-high 16 points, going 5-for-13 from the field.
-Jessie Morgan III finished with 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds.
-Franklin shot 29.4% (20-for-68) on the night while the Bears hit on 55.6% (30-for-54) of their field goals.
-The Grizzlies finished the game with just four turnovers, setting a season low total for giveaways.
-Rebounds were 46-35 in WashU's favor, with Lynn King's eight boards leading the Grizzlies.
-Franklin's 22 wins are the most by a Grizzly team since 1998-99, when Franklin recorded 23 wins for the second season in a row.
-The contest was the final for Franklin's seven senior class members in King, Morgan, Cody Samples, Braden Flanagan, Ryan Bostic, Malachi Archey and Jaume Arnal.