Flory Bidunga led Kansas with 18 points in a 71-61 win over Notre Dame in the opening round of the Players Era men’s tournament on Monday afternoon in Las Vegas.Bidunga stuffed the stat sheet with nine rebounds, five assists and five blocks for Kansas (4-2).Bryson Tiller tallied 17 points and nine rebounds, Tre White added 16 points and nine rebounds and Melvin Council Jr. chipped in 12 points for the Jayhawks.Markus Burton scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Fighting Irish (4-2). Jalen Haralson tallied 13 points and Carson Towt pulled down 10 rebounds.Kansas will face Syracuse on Tuesday and Notre Dame will take on Rutgers before the final round of matchups is decided.Early on, Bidunga blocked a 3-point attempt by Burton from the top of the key. He fought his way through Burton’s flagrant foul on the other end for what became a four-point play as the Jayhawks took a 17-15 lead.When Kansas inbounded the ball, Bidunga’s layup made it a six-point possession and part of a 13-2 run. As the Jayhawks found their way, Notre Dame struggled as it shot 0 for 8 on field goal attempts during the Kansas rally.Another Bidunga layup gave the Jayhawks a 31-20 lead with 5:02 to go in the first half. Braeden Shrewsberry and Cole Certa hit threes on consecutive Fighting Irish possessions to cut the Kansas lead to 39-32 at halftime.