Mo Dioubate 'just wanted to be him' against Tennessee

Kentucky forward Mo Dioubate displayed plenty of toughness for Kentucky against Tennessee.

Jan 17, 2026; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Mouhamed Dioubate (23) reacts to a call during the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Kentucky basketball picked up not only their third-straight win on Saturday, but their third game in a row that required a huge comeback. This one from Saturday is the biggest of those, as the Wildcats went into Knoxville and erased a 17-point first half deficit against the 24th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers.

Multiple players were big catalysts in making yet another comeback happen, including Denzel Aberdeen, who had 18 of his 22 points in the second half (and also came up huge against LSU), Otega Oweh, with 10 of his 12 points coming in the final half, and Collin Chandler, who dished the assist to Oweh off of a steal with 34 seconds left to put Kentucky in the lead. All three of them deserve credit, but one player may have been quietly as important, Mo Dioubate.

Dioubate was not much of a factor in the first half against Tennessee, but he really made his presence known in the second half by embracing that toughness that the team desperately needed against a very physical front line for the Vols. The 6-7 forward was massively important for the Wildcats, but especially so on the glass. Dioubate finished the game with six rebounds, and four of those came in the second half. One though, was the most important board he grabbed all game. After with Oweh transition bucket, he was fouled. He then missed a free throw, but Dioubate was there to save it, which led to a Denzel Aberdeen layup with 16 seconds left to put Kentucky up 80-77, before ending up with a 80-78 victory after another thrilling comeback.

After the game, Mark Pope raved about Dioubate's impact down low, saying he "just wanted to be him" when he was on the floor on Saturday, and he was certainly felt. "I'm so proud of him tonight. He just wanted to be him. He wanted to be the greatness that Mo Dioubate is. He one of the we've talked about over the course of year, but when guys love themselves, when they love what they bring that's special and magical in this game, then they're great. He was great tonight. He was unbelievable. His impact on the game was way bigger than his (stat) line."

When the game calls for it, Dioubate can have an absolutely huge impact on the game. It certainly called for it on Saturday against a Tennessee team that requires you to be tough in order to beat them. That's exactly what this Kentucky team as a whole embraced, and it started with Dioubate.