On Saturday night, Mo Dioubate finished with just four points and two rebounds against then-No. 25 Tennessee.

Looking at the numbers alone, it would be easy to assume his 15 minutes on the floor had little impact.

That assumption would be wrong.

Dioubate played a critical role in Kentucky’s 71-44 victory — and it wasn’t the first time he played that part against the Volunteers this season.

Earlier this year, Dioubate’s performance proved pivotal in Kentucky’s 80-78 road upset over No. 24 Tennessee in Knoxville.

In Kentucky’s conference sweep of its border rival, the forward put up performances with game-defining plays, and while it might’ve been quiet on the stat sheet, it was loud in impact.

In both meetings, when the Wildcats needed momentum or a clutch play, Dioubate didn’t hesitate — he seized the moment.

Kentucky entered Rupp Arena on Feb. 7 with the stakes as high as ever. The Cats were on the hunt to secure the No. 2 spot in the conference standings after winning seven of their last eight games.

Unfortunately for Kentucky, the first half would not start in its favor.

It was an especially quiet half for Dioubate, as in just six minutes of play, he only accounted for one defensive rebound and one assist, while sitting in the plus-minus category at minus-7.

The only highlight came from his one assist, which accounted for a Denzel Aberdeen three, and cut the Vols’ lead down to six, leading 31-25 with just over five minutes remaining in the first.

However, the Cats were still sent to the locker room down at half by 13 points — but this was something not a single player was discouraged by, or a situation that was anything new.

Kentucky found themselves down by such a significant amount at half so often, they earned themselves the nickname “Cardiac Cats” — because every single time, it feels they find a way to pull off the most unlikely victories.

Coming out of the halftime period, Kentucky began playing its best basketball of the night. Dioubate subbed in at the 14:38 mark, and only 14 seconds later, cut Tennessee’s lead to eight.

After a defensive stop put the ball back with the Cats, the 6-foot-7 forward would score once again, this time with a slam dunk to send Rupp Arena to its feet, as the Cats found themselves down just 57-51, courtesy of his two unanswered scores.

Those would be his only four points of the game — but it’s no question they played a significant part in Kentucky’s comeback, especially in giving the offense a spark of momentum.

Dioubate was not brought into Kentucky to be a shooter — he was brought to be the leader of the Cats’ defensive front, and while his four points were an important contribution, that is not where he showed off in the game.

“One thing Mo always tells me is the SEC is basically football, and you’re either a linebacker or you’re a bench player. And that’s kind of just what it is,” Malachi Moreno said. “You either are coming into the game ready to basically fight somebody or you’re going to get put down.

After putting up a block and steal over the next few minutes, Dioubate found himself back on the bench.

His shots weren’t falling, and the Cats needed to keep their scoring efficiency high in the final 10 minutes of the game.

With only eight seconds left in the game, he checked back in, the Cats only up 74-73.

It was only five seconds later that Dioubate would make arguably his biggest play in a Kentucky uniform — grabbing arguably his most important offensive rebound as a Wildcat.

With just three seconds left, kicking it out to Aberdeen, who would get fouled and head to the line.

After nailing both free throws, Kentucky went up by three, and Tennessee was forced into a near-full-court Hail Mary shot looking to send the game to overtime — but would fall short, the Cats defending home court in the 74-71 victory.

“Mo — he is a dog. And I tell him this every single day, like, don’t worry about nothing, but being a dog, bro,” Otega Oweh said following the win. “And, you know, that’s like, the third game and he’s gotten a big-time offensive rebound off the free throw. So, you know, that’s his skill. You know, he got to keep on leaning into his skill.”

Ending the half with just four points and one rebound did not do justice to just how important Dioubate’s role was in the game.

He ended the half with a plus-minus of plus-7, meaning that while on the court, Kentucky outscored the Vols by seven points, and in a game decided by just three, that impact was beyond crucial.

“The plays he’s making are not the stuff that you see on SportsCenter Top 10. But they are the plays that win,” Mark Pope said. “Everybody else in the league would kill to have that guy that is going to make that play.”

This was the second time that Dioubate played a silent, but crucial role in Kentucky’s upset victories over its border rival.

Down in Knoxville back on Jan. 17, Dioubate checked in at the 12:16 mark, and once again, his impact was immediate, grabbing a defensive rebound on the very next play.

He then put up a layup with just over 10 minutes left in the first half, giving the Cats their first bucket in over a minute and a half, cutting the Vols’ lead down to seven.

He ended the half putting up a steal and another defensive rebound. Both rebounds resulted in scores on the other end of the court for UK, the Cats, however, were down by 17.

Luckily for Kentucky, the second half looked like a whole different level of Dioubate. Five minutes into the half, he put up another score to cut Tennessee’s lead to six.

He grabbed another offensive rebound before eventually heading to the charity stripe with 12:58 remaining in the game and nailed both, cutting the point deficit once again as Tennessee took just a 46-52 lead over the Cats.

Only 10 seconds later, the ball was back in his hands, and while he missed his first attempt, he tipped in the missed shot to cut the deficit once again, with four unanswered points.

The game was slow for Dioubate until he checked back in with three and a half minutes left in the game.

Down 76-71, Otega Oweh threw up a shot — and while it didn’t go in the basket, Dioubate was ready to grab the rebound.

He kicked it back out to Aberdeen, who nailed a jumper to cut the Vols’ lead down to three.

The next score of the game came from Dioubate himself, hitting a jumper of his own to cut the point deficit down to one.

With just 33 seconds remaining, Dioubate grabbed yet another clutch rebound.

He threw it back out to Aberdeen once again, who would score on a layup to give Kentucky its first lead of the game, 80-77, and would secure victory for the Cats.

In the second half alone, Dioubate put up eight points and offensive rebounds, ending the game with 10 points, six rebounds, with a team-high four offensive rebounds, and led the team with a plus-minus of 16 through 27 minutes of play.

Aside from the 10 points he scored, Dioubate accounted for 10 of Kentucky’s other points courtesy of his rebounds, with three of his four offensive rebounds alone ending in a score.

“Mo Dioubate, man, I can’t tell you, like, so proud of him tonight,” Pope said following the win in Knoxville. “He just wanted to be him. He wanted to, like, be the greatness that Mo Dioubate is … he was great tonight. He was unbelievable. His impact on the game was way bigger than his line.”

The impact Dioubate has is typically not flashy, but it is the most important one, and nobody knows that better than Pope.

In both games, Pope credits him for Kentucky’s unimaginable comeback victories.

“His offensive rebounds down the stretch in the last three minutes at Tennessee are what won us the game. His offensive rebound at the free-throw line is the play that sealed the game for us today.”

Dioubate may not dominate the box score, but his game is present in Kentucky’s biggest wins.

Against Tennessee, twice now, he proved that the plays that matter most won’t always make the biggest headline.