South Alabama is a game clear of the field atop the Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball standings, but four teams are hot on the Jaguars’ heels.

One of those is Troy, which visits the Mitchell Center at 3 p.m. Saturday, for the first half of the two teams’ annual rivalry series. The Jaguars (13-5, 5-1 Sun Belt) are off to their best start in 17 years, while the Trojans (11-6, 4-2) are well on their way to a fourth straight 20-win season.

South Alabama coach Richie Riley said he is anticipating — and hoping for — a raucous crowd for the game. The Jaguars’ last two home games saw their largest attendance of the season.

“We had a great crowd,” Riley said after a 75-62 win over Southern Miss on Wednesday. “I want to salute our crowd; they made a huge difference. They gave our guys some juice and some energy, and were really loud in key moments of that game. It’s appreciated from our team, from me.

“Please come back on Saturday. The Troy game is usually like that, it’s heated, it’s a rivalry and both of us are having good years. So it’s gonna be just like it always is. It’s gonna be a battle, two good teams going at it.”

Troy was picked to finish third in the Sun Belt in the preseason coaches poll, and thus far has played up to that standard. The Trojans are one of four teams tied for second in the league a game behind South Alabama, clustered in with Arkansas State, Appalachian State and Old Dominion.

Scott Cross’ Trojans are an extremely deep team, with 11 men who average at least 9 minutes per game. That depth has been tested somewhat in the last week, as forward Myles Rigsby — the 2024 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and a preseason all-conference pick — did not play last time out vs. Louisiana-Monroe and was limited to eight minutes in the previous game vs. Texas State due to an undisclosed injury.

Rigsby is officially listed as “day-to-day,” so his status for Saturday is not yet known. Redshirt freshman Kerrington Kiel made his first career start in Rigsby’s absence vs. ULM, posting a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 77-58 Trojans win.

“Scott’s a tremendous coach,” Riley said. “He’s been a tremendous coach for a long, long time and it feels like he gets better every year. He’s got a really good team. They were picked third preseason for a reason. They’ve got a really good team, really good guard play, and they play so hard.”

Senior guard Tayton Conerway has moved into the starting lineup for the Trojans this season after earning Sun Belt Sixth Man of the Year honors last year, and has arguably been the team’s best player. He averages 12.1 points and 3.7 rebounds, and is second in the conference in assists (4.9 per game) and first in steals (3.1).

Freshman guard Cooper Campbell scored a season-best 16 points vs. ULM, while sophomore forward Thomas Dowd added 16 points and nine rebounds. The 6-foot-8 Dowd is the Trojans’ top inside presence, averaging 8.3 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons, we’ve said that all along,” Cross said after the ULM win. “We need to continue to play every possession, be locked-in defensively, continue to rebound, continue to take care of the basketball. That’s the recipe for us to be successful.”

South Alabama has played smothering defense all season long, allowing 61.6 points per game — best in the Sun Belt and ninth nationally. Only Old Dominion — which dealt the Jaguars their lone Sun Belt loss this season, 71-63 last Saturday — has eclipsed 62 points South Alabama in a conference game, and the Monarchs needed overtime to do it (they had 63 at the end of regulation).

South Alabama leads the Sun Belt in opponents’ field-goal percentage (37.6, 10th nationally), turnover margin (5.83 per game, sixth), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.81-to-1, sixth), steals (9.83 per game, 15th), turnovers forced per game (14.8, 41st) and fewest turnovers per game (9.0, third). The Jaguars are also mostly healthy, with forward Randy Brady having returned vs. Southern Miss after missing three games with an ankle injury.

“They play all zone; we have to prepare for that,” Cross said. “We had to spend a little bit of time preparing for zone already. … I believe in our guys. I believe we’re going to be ready. It’s never an easy place to play, it’s a rivalry game. But I know our guys will be locked-in and fired up for the game.”

Saturday’s game will stream live via ESPN+. South Alabama makes the return trip to Troy on Jan. 25.