Polls, Nikita, Harvard

Three tidbits of news pre-holiday:

• The Hoyas are ranked #14 AP/#13 ESPN, down a few slots from #11 last week.
  
• Junior forward Nikita Mescheriakov is transferring.  Apparently he wants more playing time.  Surely he could have gotten some run at Yates?  Okay, enough kicking guys on their way out the door.  That’s seven transfers in the JTIII era, and depletes the current roster to nine, not counting walk-ons Ryan Dougherty and Stephen Stepka, who have seen less action than the minutes Nikita left behind.  So ,depth could be an issue going forward, as could a sudden lack of dribbles off the knee and horrendously awkward plays.
  
• Quick Harvard Preview – The Crimson comes into the game 7-2, with one impressive win (BC) and an impressively narrow loss (UConn, by six).  Watch out for senior guard Jeremy Lin, who leads Harvard in just about everything (18.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, 2.1 stl pg, .371 FG%), and nearly engineered an upset of the Huskies.  Like ODU, though, Harvard is otherwise balanced, with seven players averaging at least 5.5 points per.  Sophomore forward Keith Wright has been coming on particularly strong of late, averaging 14.5 ppg over the past four games.  Sophomore guard Oliver McNally averages 8.3 points and 4.3 assists per, and with Wright may signal a change in Harvard’s wanting hoops history, thanks to the efforts of third-year coach Tommy Amaker.  Lin and McNally, with some combination of freshman guard Brandyn Curry and sophomore guard Max Kenyi, will likely form a three-guard offense that could prove pesky for the Hoyas.  No traps allowed after last weekend for the Hoyas, who still need to prove that they can take care of business against inferior competition.  Prediction – Georgetown 75, Harvard 65.