Lahaina, Maui — The next time he comes to Maui, Jim Boeheim said he would bring his golf clubs.

But this visit was a business trip, not a vacation. And the Syracuse Orange took care of business.

» Box score

Syracuse (7-0) held off several Baylor (6-1) rallies to capture the 2013 Maui Invitational on Wednesday night here at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Syracuse, which led by as many as 14 points in the second half, downed the stubborn Bears 74-67 to win its third Maui Invitational title. The Orange also won this event in 1990 and 1998.

The championship game pitted two undefeated and nationally-ranked teams — No. 8 Syracuse and. No. 18 Baylor — and the game reflected the level of competition. Both teams played extremely well and traded runs throughout the game.

Syracuse senior C.J. Fair scored 24 points and was named tournament MVP, joining

fellow Syracuse players Billy Owens and Jason Hart as MVPs of the Maui Invitational. Fair made 10 of his 17 field-goal attempts.

Fair hit two huge jumpers after Baylor had closed to within 66-60 at the 3-minute mark. Fair hit a jumper just past the free-throw line and then came back with another shot from the right wing.

"I knew the team was looking on me to make plays,'' Fair said.

Fair went 10-for-17 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.

"C.J. made the jumpers,'' Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "He's a good player. As a coach, you can lose to guys making tough shots.''

Jerami Grant scored 19 points for the Orange and was named to the all-tournament team. Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis finished with 11 points, nine assists, four steals and no turnovers. Trevor Cooney scored 11 points. The sophomore shooting guard averaged 16.3 points in the three tournament games in Maui.

"I think this was a great tournament for us, particularly our young guards,'' SU coach Jim Boeheim said. "I think it was very helpful for them.''

Syracuse won despite Baylor's 55 percent field-goal shooting. The Bears also made nine out of 19 shots from 3-point range. Baylor thumped Syracuse on the boards, pulling down 33 rebounds to just 21 for Syracuse.

"The key was offense,'' Boeheim said. "Our offense has been really good here. C.J. got us off to a great start and then Jerami had a great stretch.''

Syracuse made 30 of its 59 (50.3 percent) shots from the field, but the Orange's defense did force 20 Baylor turnovers, which were critical.

After leading 38-30 at halftime, Syracuse stretched its lead to 54-40 with 11:28 left in the game on Baye Moussa Keita's fastbreak dunk.

Baylor, which had rallied from 17 down to beat Dayton 67-66 in Tuesday's semifinals, staged a comeback, scoring eight straight points. The Bears pulled to within 54-48 on Kenny Chery's 3-pointer with 9:24 left. Syracuse had to call timeout to stem the momentum.

Syracuse went to its two outstanding forwards — Fair and Grant. Grant converted a 3-point play, Fair hit a baseline jumper and then Grant converted another 3-point play. Ennis finished up the 10-0 run with a breakaway layup.

The Orange's spurt boosted the lead to 66-52.

After starting the season with four home-court victories over lesser opponents, Syracuse came to the islands and took on three teams from power conferences. The Orange responded with three outstanding performances in wins over Minnesota, California and Baylor.

"Against Minnesota, we were two points up with less than three minutes to go,'' Boeheim said. "C.J. made a runner in the lane that got us the win. Cal was really difficult and we made crazy, really difficult shots. Our defense was better tonight.''

Syracuse actually played four games in this year's Maui Invitational as the Orange opened with a game against one of the teams that stays in a separate bracket on the mainland. That game was against St. Francis (N.Y.), which nearly upset Syracuse before falling 56-50 in the Carrier Dome.

"We wanted to play in a tournament that was going to test us,'' Boeheim said. "Usually, you get an easy game. We had four ridiculously difficult games and the first was the most difficult. We barely escaped our first game.''

These wins will resonate throughout the season and into March when the NCAA Selection Committee seeds and brackets the NCAA Tournament field.

Syracuse led by eight at halftime after lighting up the nets during the first half. The Orange made 16 out of 28 (57 percent) of its field-goal attempts in the opening half. Syracuse was 4-for-8 from 3-point range.

Baylor stayed close thanks to a streak of 3-point shooting early that saw the Bears hit three straight 3-pointers to close an early 12-2 deficit. The Bears also out-rebounded Syracuse 18-8 in the half.

Syracuse led by as many as 13 points in the half, pulling out to a 33-20 lead after Rakeem Christmas was fouled on a dunk and then hit the free throw. However, Baylor steadied itself and pulled to within 36-30 before Grant hit a leaning bank shot for the 38-30 halftime margin.

"I think we've grown a lot and learned a lot,'' Boeheim said. "We've seen a lot of things that we can improve on. It's been a great trip.''

Boeheim promised to hit the beach for the first time during Syracuse's stay in Maui on Thursday morning. He also quipped that he would be retired by the time Syracuse makes its next trip to Maui, vowing to "bring my golf clubs'' the next time he visits the Valley Isle.

"Unfortunately, right now I'm thinking about Indiana,'' said Boeheim, referring to Syracuse's next game on Dec. 3. "I never enjoy these things for very long.''