Mo Dioubate Provides Bench Spark in Kentucky's Win Over South Carolina: 'We Needed This One'

Mo Diobuate came off the bench during Tuesday’s win over South Carolina, and he made the most of those minutes. In a tough road atmosphere, Dioubate thrived.

Dioubate, nicknamed ‘Ramadam Mo’ as he fasts to observe the Muslim holiday of Ramadam this month, provided a major spark for Kentucky off the bench on Tuesday. In the 72-63 win over South Carolina, Dioubate finished with 12 points on 5-for-10 from the field in just 20 minutes, finishing with a game-best +16 plus-minus.

“We fought through adversity tonight,” Dioubate said postgame. “Although we started very slow today, first half and second half, we stuck together. In the first half, we let up a lot of threes. That wasn’t in the gameplan. We had a lot of adversity, but we fought through it.”

Dioubate gave credit postgame to his team and head coach Mark Pope. He also shouted out his nutritionist, as well as Kentucky senior athletic trainer Brandon Wells.

“My trainer, Brandon Wells, had the pregame speech today, and it was probably the best one we had all year,” Dioubate said.

Kentucky Wins When Mo Dioubate Scores 12+

With the win, Kentucky moved to 18-10 on the season and 9-6 in the SEC. It’s clear that when Mo Dioubate is at his best, so is Kentucky.

With Dioubate scoring 12 points on the night, Kentucky moved to 5-0 this season when Dioubate scores at least 12 points. This was his first time scoring at least 12 points since non-conference play.

In fact, there have been two games in his career that he’s lost after scoring 12 points. One of those came against Kentucky in 2024 as a member of Alabama. In that game, he scored 12 points for the Crimson Tide, but lost to UK 117-95. He also scored 12 points in Alabama’s SEC Tournament loss to Florida in 2025.

“It definitely felt good to get the win,” Dioubate said. “The last few weeks, I’ve been going through some adversity on the court. I’ve just been trying to move forward. I understand we have a goal in mind. We’re trying to win. We can’t cry over spilled milk. We just have to keep moving. I understand that my team needs me, so I can’t be too hard on my feelings over a bad game or anything like that. We just have to keep moving forward.”