LAHAINA » Jim Boeheim doesn’t always bring his teams out to Maui. But when he does, he prefers victory.

After a 15-year absence, celebratory cries of "Let’s go Orange!" rang out in the Lahaina Civic Center once again.

Eighth-ranked Syracuse won its third EA Sports Maui Invitational championship with a 74-67 defeat of No. 18 Baylor in the title game of the prestigious early-season tournament Wednesday night.

All eight teams in the 30th edition of the field were undefeated when play started on Monday. Syracuse is the only team that can still say that, emerging from a highly competitive scrum over the past three days and nights.

"I’ve retired from Maui. That’s what I tell you," said Boeheim, the second-winningest coach in Division I basketball at 927 victories, when asked if he’d bring another of his teams back. "I’m very happy to go into the sunset. The next time I come to Maui, I’ll have my golf clubs."

Syracuse (7-0), one of the new kids on the block in the ever-expanding Atlantic Coast Conference, is one of the old reliables on the Valley Isle. Boeheim took the Orange here in 1990 and 1998, defeating Indiana in the title game both times.

He, his players and Syracuse’s signature 2-3 zone defense got it done again against the bruising Bears (6-1) of the Big 12, moving the Orange to 9-0 in the event — a mark of perfection here second only to Duke’s 15-0.

Senior forward C.J. Fair, the ACC preseason player of the year, led the way with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting en route to tournament MVP honors. He came up with several big buckets in the final 10 minutes to keep Baylor at bay.

"I knew that the team was looking upon me to make plays," Fair said, "and once I seen a couple of my jumpers go in, that kind of gave me confidence and my teammates confidence to keep getting me open and finding me, and it was a team effort from there."

Explosive sophomore forward Jerami Grant added 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting, helping overcome five Bears in double figures and a 33-21 BU rebounding advantage.

While Syracuse is established, Baylor continues to fight for respect. Orange fans outnumbered their Bears counterparts more than 2-to-1 in the packed 2,400-seat Civic Center.

"Coach Boeheim does a great job," Bears coach Scott Drew said. "There’s a reason they have over 900 wins (under him). I thought we left here becoming a better team. … The toughest thing is not having enough time to really prep (between games). I wish I had us prepared better on the offensive end against their zone."

Baylor shot 9-for-19 on 3-pointers and 55.3 percent overall, but turned it over 20 times to just seven for Syracuse with Orange point guard Tyler Ennis (nine assists, no turnovers) running the show.

The Orange made an eight-point halftime lead stand up. BU’s Brady Heslip made a 3-pointer with 16.2 seconds left to make it 72-67, the closest it got in the final six minutes.

Ennis converted two foul shots and that was that — Syracuse ruled the Maui night again.