Everything you need to know as Notre Dame basketball faces No. 23 Kansas

What do they say about visits to that desert outpost? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?

That was the case last season when Notre Dame basketball took part in the first Players Era Festival and preferred to leave behind everything about the experience. Notre Dame lost guard Markus Burton to a knee injury, lost an overtime game to Rutgers, lost a close one the next night to a Houston team that would eventually play for a national championship and ran out of gas while running on fumes in a four-point loss to Creighton. Three games, three losses, a key player loss as well.

Noie: Three thoughts about Notre Dame basketball after that too-close-for-comfort home game

Noie: How one shot, one win, helped slingshot Notre Dame basketball into two decades of success

A lost week.

The Irish plan for a better stay this week in a town where they are 1-5 all-time. That stay starts Monday against one of the game’s bluebloods. How’s that one and how’s the rest of the week going to go? Time to find out.

No. 23 Kansas (3-2) vs. Notre Dame (4-1)

Date: Monday, November 24

Start time: 3:30 p.m. (South Bend time)

Site: MGM Grand Garden Arena (17,000) Las Vegas

What channel is No. 23 Kansas vs. Notre Dame on?

Radio: 960 WSBT-AM in South Bend

Streaming: SiriusXM on ACC Radio and channels 955 and 956. You can also listen live free on Audacy.

Livestream: www.tntdrama.com/watchtnt

Series history between No. 23 Kansas and Notre Dame

Notre Dame leads 9-3, including 3-0 at neutral sites. The teams met twice in 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri and in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the 1975 NCAA Tournament. All were Irish wins.

This is the first meeting since an 80-76 Irish win on January 23, 1988, at Purcell Pavilion. Against a Kansas team that would eventually win the national championship, Notre Dame point guard David Rivers had 29 points, five rebounds and seven assists in 38 minutes while Keith Robinson came off the bench with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes. Jayhawks forward Danny Manning had 22 points and nine rebounds in 40 minutes.

Notre Dame basketball storylines vs. No. 23 Kansas

∎ Both Kansas losses have been to Atlantic Coast Conference teams ― at North Carolina (87-74) and to Duke (78-66) at last week’s Champions Classic in New York. Kansas beat host Louisville (90-82) in an October exhibition.

∎ Notre Dame is 0-8 against ranked teams in two-plus seasons under head coach Micah Shrewsberry.

∎ The Irish have not beaten a ranked team at a neutral site during the regular season since a 67-66 victory over No. 6 Wichita State in the Maui Invitational championship game on November 22, 2017.

Keep an eye on …

Kansas PF Flory Bidunga

He went to high school barely 90 minutes from Notre Dame, straight down U.S. 31 in Kokomo, Indiana. His camp made overtures during the recruiting process about considering Notre Dame during a high school senior season in which he averaged 19.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 4.4 blocks while shooting 81.4 percent from the field to earn 2024 Indiana Mr. Basketball.

Notre Dame decided that the 6-foot-10, 235-pound native of Congo was not likely to sign with the Irish. The five-star prospect chose Kansas, where the left-hander averaged 5.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks with 47 dunks in 16.3 minutes as a freshman. Five games into his sophomore season, Bidunga is averaging 16.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 27.8 minutes. His 11 blocks are nearly twice as many as Notre Dame’s entire team (six).

The one to watch here should have been KU freshman guard Darryn Peterson, the possible No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft, but head coach Bill Self ruled the Naismith high school player of the year out for the tournament as he deals with a hamstring injury.

Notre Dame PF Garrett Sundra

The Irish need more from their 6-11, 230-pound stretch four man at the PEF. Facing a Bellarmine team that flooded the floor with guards earlier in the week, Sundra went scoreless with one rebound in only nine minutes. He was coming off a season-high 20 minutes (five points, two rebounds) against Ohio State. Sundra has started all five games at power forward and is averaging 4.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.2 assists in 17.0 minutes.

He should get more of a chance against a taller, more athletic Kansas team.

Last time in Las Vegas, Sundra scored a career-high 11 points with four rebounds and an assist in 11 minutes in an 80-76 loss to Creighton. It would be nice if he picked up where he left off before leaving Las Vegas.

Notre Dame basketball headlines

Notre Dame basketball 2025-26 schedule

Oct. 17 at Butler (W, 77-76) Exhibition

Oct. 24 DEPAUL (L, 69-62) Exhibition

Nov. 3 LIU BROOKLYN, 7 p.m. (W, 89-67; 1-0)

Nov. 7 DETROIT MERCY, 7 p.m. (W, 102-70; 2-0)

Nov. 11 EASTERN ILLINOIS, (W, 78-58; 3-0)

Nov. 16 At Ohio State, (L, 64-63; 3-1)

Nov. 19 BELLARMINE, (W, 86-79; 4-1)

Nov. 24 vs Kansas (Players Era Festival, Las Vegas), 3:30 p.m. (TNT)

Nov. 25 vs Rutgers (Players Era Festival, Las Vegas), 1 p.m. (TNT)

Nov. 26/27 TBD (Players Era Festival, Las Vegas), TBD

Dec. 2 MISSOURI (ACC/SEC Challenge), 9 p.m. (ESPNU)

Dec. 5 At TCU, 8 p.m. (ESPN+)

Dec. 10 IDAHO, 7 p.m. (ACCNX)

Dec. 13 EVANSVILLE, 2 p.m. (ACCNX)

Dec. 21 PURDUE FORT WAYNE, 12 p.m. (ACCNX)

Dec. 30 At Stanford, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)

Jan. 2 At California, 11 p.m. (ESPN2)

Jan. 10 CLEMSON, 6 p.m. (ESPN2/U)

Jan. 13 MIAMI (Fla.), 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)

Jan. 17 At Virginia Tech, 12 p.m. (ACCN)

Jan. 21 At North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Jan. 24 BOSTON COLLEGE, 6 p.m. (ACCN)

Jan. 27 VIRGINIA, 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)

Jan. 31 At Syracuse, 6 p.m., (The CW)

Feb. 4 At Louisville, 7 p.m. (ESPN/U)

Feb. 7 FLORIDA STATE, 4 p.m. (ACCN)

Feb. 10 At SMU, 7 p.m. (ACCN)

Feb. 14 GEORGIA TECH, 12 p.m. (The CW)

Feb. 21 At Pittsburgh, 2 p.m. (ACCN)

Feb. 24 DUKE, 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)

Feb. 28 NORTH CAROLINA STATE, 12 p.m. (The CW)

March 3 STANFORD, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)

March 7 At Boston College, 12 p.m. (ESPNU)

March 10-14 ACC Tournament (Charlotte) TBD.

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame basketball looks for better luck this week in Las Vegas

Source link