LAHAINA »The Pitino legacy in Hawaii earned a small measure of redemption Wednesday.

Richard Pitino, the 31-year-old son of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, leaves the islands today with some satisfaction after his Minnesota Golden Gophers survived Division II host Chaminade 83-68 in the seventh-place game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

Falling to the Silverswords — who were gunning for their eighth all-time win in the 30th year of their signature event — would have been a significant stumble for the first-year Minnesota coach. But the Gophers’ fullcourt pressure got to the ‘Swords in the end, as Minnesota (6-2) rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit and closed out the game on a 25-4 run.

"I’d probably say that was the most proud I’ve been of the guys so far this year because we had so much to lose, they had so much to gain," Pitino said. "We were battling so many obstacles, and certainly every team does. But travel, we were tired, and it’s just the time change. It was all very, very difficult."

It was a decidedly difficult finish for his father out here in his first head coaching gig. Rick Pitino was the University of Hawaii interim head coach for six games after Bruce O’Neil was dismissed late in the 1974-75 season. After the season, there was an NCAA investigation for violations under O’Neil that supposedly extended to Pitino, and Pitino and the program parted ways.

The elder Pitino went on to great things — he became the first men’s basketball coach to win an NCAA championship at two different schools (Kentucky, Louisville) when he and the Cardinals went all the way last spring. He recently hosted current UH coach Gib Arnold during a preseason practice, offering some pointers.

Richard Pitino assisted his father for three years at Louisville, but missed out on the national title. He got his first head coaching gig at Florida International last season, guiding the Owls to an 18-14 record.

Minnesota swooped in and hired him in April and Richard installed a pressing defense built to harass opponents an entire game. It helped force 20 turnovers against the Silverswords, who could almost taste a third win in four years over a D-I foe, and second landmark Maui moment by coach Eric Bovaird to join last season’s upset of Texas.

"When you start getting up, you can kind of see them getting a little rattled at the time," said point guard Lee Bailey, who had 18 points to lead Chaminade. "So obviously the upset was in the back of our mind. But I know at least for myself … my third Maui now, that being up at any point in time doesn’t guarantee the upset. It almost makes it harder."

Pitino’s squad trailed by five points at halftime, offering a lesson in humility if losses to No. 8 Syracuse and Arkansas on the first two days of the tournament hadn’t sufficed.

"(It showed us) probably that anybody can beat us on any given night," Pitino said. "If mentality-wise we can’t bring it every game, we could lose. Conversely though, it shows us if we go in with the same mind-set that Chaminade has, we can beat anybody."

Guard DeAndre Mathieu led the Gophers with 17 points, five assists and five rebounds. Meanwhile, ‘Swords guard Christophe Varidel, who scored 42 with a Maui record-tying 10 3-pointers in a loss to Baylor on Monday, struggled to seven points on 3-for-13 shooting with six turnovers.

"This was, for me, a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Pitino said. "Hopefully one time we’ll be invited back by Coach (tournament chair Dave) Odom. But this was unbelievable for our basketball program."

DAYTON 82, CALIFORNIA 64

Devin Oliver scored 21 points and the Flyers (6-1) halted an early second-half surge by the Bears (5-2) to win the third-place game.

Oliver started a key 12-point run five minutes into the second half with a tip-in and a 3-pointer, then had a steal and drive that ended in a spinning layup. Less than a minute later, 6-foot freshman Kyle Davis drove in from the top of the key in traffic for a two-handed dunk to give Dayton a 52-39 lead with less than 12 minutes left.

The run muted a one-man attack by Justin Cobbs, who scored Cal’s first 12 points of the second half. Cobbs finished with 31 points.

No. 11 GONZAGA 91, ARKANSAS 81

Kevin Pangos scored 32 points and the Bulldogs (6-1) rolled past the Razorbacks (4-2) for fifth place.

Pangos made seven of eight 3-point attempts, including four during a 3-minute stretch in the second half that led Gonzaga to an 18-point lead.

Bobby Portis scored 18 points for Arkansas.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.