FINAL: Mo Dioubate shines in return as Kentucky bounces back with 72-60 win over Indiana

Mo Dioubate deserves a birthday cake the size of the Bluegrass State.

After dealing with an ankle injury that sidelined him for nearly a month, Dioubate returned to action for Kentucky on Saturday night against Indiana. The result? 14 points, 12 rebounds, and enough energy to power all of Rupp Arena as the Wildcats (7-4) picked up a must-have win at home over the Hoosiers (8-3) by a final score of 72-60. It was Kentucky’s first win against a Power 4 opponent this season.

Aiding the birthday boy en route to the big win was Jaland Lowe, who had his best game yet as a Wildcat. Lowe finished with 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Otega Oweh rounded out the double-digit scoring for UK with 10 points, but we can’t go without mentioning Brandon Garrison and his necessary stat line of six points and five rebounds.

Kentucky sure didn’t make it easy on themselves, trailing by seven at the break and looking lost on offense, but head coach Mark Pope had his guys ready to play in the second half. UK outscored Indiana by 19 after halftime, shooting 43.3 percent as a team in the second half compared to just a 27.3 percent mark for IU.

The ‘Cats needed this win in the worst way possible, and they all stepped up to meet the challenge.

To say it was a struggle offensively for Kentucky in the opening half would be an understatement. Free throws were the only thing keeping UK alive, and even then, they failed to convert on a chunk of them. After taking a 16-15 lead midway through the first 20 minutes, Kentucky trailed the rest of the half. And that was in spite of serious foul trouble for the Hoosiers. Both Lamar Wilkerson (who had just three points in the second half) and Reed Bailey were tagged with three fouls by the intermission.

But Kentucky’s 32.1 field goal percentage in the first half negated that. UK was just 1-9 from deep at the break while shooting 13-21 from the charity stripe. No Wildcat had more than five points going into halftime. Dioubate, who returned to the floor for the first time since Nov. 18, was playing with great effort (5 points, 4 rebounds), but that was about all the positivity we could find. Indiana closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 39-32 lead into the locker room.

The halftime speech must’ve been a good one, though. A three-pointer from Oweh kicked off the second half as Kentucky came out with an added dose of energy. Indiana would soon go up by as many as eight points before the ‘Cats locked in. A 45-37 edge for the Hoosiers turned into a 50-49 Kentucky lead in a matter of five minutes. Dioubate, Oweh, and Garrison in particular were playing with the most fight we’ve seen, maybe all season. Indiana was forced to call a timeout to stop the bleeding.

Kentucky’s run extended to 17-2 as the ‘Cats began to build a lead midway through the half. Indiana was turning the ball over often and firing off tough shots as UK held a 59-51 lead with 7:43 left on the game clock. Kentucky kept pushing, growing its lead to 65-54 with under five minutes to go. But four straight points from Indiana would take us to the final media timeout with the ‘Cats up 65-58.

That was where the Hoosiers’ comeback attempt would end, though. Kentucky’s defense stepped up and prevented Indiana from scoring a field goal for nearly all of the final four minutes. That one sure did feel good to win…

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.