Hurricanes bounce back into AP, coaches polls at No. 23

The University of Miami men's basketball team re-entered the Associated Press poll and coaches polls at No. 23 on Monday afternoon.

After opening the season 8-0, the Hurricanes went from unranked to No. 15 in the AP poll in early December. But then they lost three of the next four to drop out of the rankings.

"We've just got to stay focused and take one game at a time and you got to come out hungry, hungrier than the game before," redshirt junior Sheldon McClellan said. "I just found out today that we were back in the Top 25. It's very exciting to be there, but we can't lose the edge like we did early in the season. We've got to come out as hungry as we've been playing.

"I think we have (learned). I know I say this all the time but we can't let the number get to us and get complacent. We've got to come out with an edge on our shoulder because now that we've got that number, teams are going to come with an edge to beat us. We have to come even hungrier."

The Hurricanes (14-5, 4-2 ACC) have won two in a row since losing at No. 12 Notre Dame on Jan. 17. Earlier that week they upset then-No. 4 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They beat N.C. State at home last Thursday and topped Syracuse on the road on Saturday.

Miami hosts Georgia Tech (9-10, 0-7 ACC) on Wednesday night. The Hurricanes are tied with the Blue Devils and 10th-ranked Louisville Cardinals for fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.