Kansas basketball defeats Notre Dame in Players Era tournament opener: 3 takeaways

Shreyas Laddha, The Kansas City Star on Nov 24, 2025

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Before the season, Kansas fans joked — or perhaps hoped, with the loftiest of ideals — that big man Flory Bidunga and freshman phenom Darryn Peterson would become KU’s iteration of Shaq and Kobe.

The comparison wasn’t quite rooted in reality given how dominant Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were, winning multiple NBA championships together. But at least for one afternoon in Las Vegas, Bidunga was reminiscent of a young Shaq.

That’s without his “Kobe” playing, as Peterson missed the Jayhawks’ Players Era tournament opener against Notre Dame with a hamstring injury. Not that it mattered for the final score, as KU won 71-61.

Bidunga had a major hand in that.

The sophomore big man had plenty of highlights, including one sequence where he blocked a 3-pointer and turned it into an and-one on the other end. It was one of his five blocks on the day.

Kansas improved to 4-2 — despite Peterson missing his fourth game — with the win at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Bidunga scored 18 points with nine rebounds and five assists. Freshman forward Bryson Tiller added 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Tiller started in place of Peterson, who will miss the entire event, Bill Self said.

The Jayhawks largely controlled this game start to finish. Kansas led for more than 32 minutes and took a seven-point halftime lead. Notre Dame pulled within four points in the second half but never got any closer.

Up next: KU plays Syracuse on Tuesday in its second game at the Players Era tournament.

Until then, here are three takeaways from Monday’s action:

Bidunga dominates all around

It’s a night-and-day difference in Bidunga’s play from last season to now.

The sophomore big man has taken a big leap on the offensive end. That much was clear Monday.

Bidunga was relentless attacking the rim, converting multiple and-one opportunities while leading KU with 14 first-half points. The Jayhawks led at half despite shooting only -for 9 from 3. Bidunga’s offense was a major factor.

He had a quieter scoring second half, but still made his presence felt on the defensive end. Bidunga had four assists, three rebounds and three blocks in the second half alone.

This is the version of Bidunga that the Jayhawks will need all season.

Kansas needs to shoot the ball better

Early in the season, Self said he believed this KU team would shoot around 35-37% from 3-point range.

When asked about it recently, he said the shooting was concerning but projected Kansas would ultimately end up as an above-average 3-point shooting team.

Well, that’s not happening without Peterson. The Jayhawks don’t have the personnel to draw attention away from their top 3-point shooters, and the result has been, at times, difficult and contested shots.

In the four games without Peterson, Kansas’ best 3-point shooting clip was 35% (against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). The Jayhawks have been at 30% or worse in each of the other three games.

That included Monday, when Kansas shot 6 for 20 (30%) from distance.

Perimeter defense excels

While the Jayhawks couldn’t buy a bucket for much of the game, KU’s perimeter defense was exceptional.

Notre Dame entered Saturday ranked No. 22 in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (40.5%).

The Fighting Irish didn’t look anywhere near as good against the Jayhawks. Kansas did a tremendous job of contesting Notre Dame shooters, leading to a number of blocks on 3-pointers. The Jayhawks also did their part to run shooters off the 3-point line.

Notre Dame shot 4 for 24 (16.7%) from 3. Meaning the Jayhawks, a team not known for making long-range shots, actually made more 3s on better efficiency Monday.

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