PROVO — The West Coast Conference released the 2019-20 men’s basketball slate Tuesday.

Once again, BYU will face a challenging early league schedule.

The Cougars travel to WCC powers Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga during the first three weeks of January.

BYU opens WCC play at home against Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Jan. 4, followed by a game at Saint Mary’s on Jan. 9 and will visit Gonzaga on Jan. 18.

BYU will host the Gaels on Feb. 1 and the Zags on Feb. 22.

This marks the second season of the modified WCC men’s basketball schedule. The 16-game schedule is the result of changes adopted by the WCC Presidents’ Council as part of the Conference’s Men’s Basketball Enhancement Plan .

As part of the 16-game schedule, the Cougars won’t play at Santa Clara and won’t host Pacific.

These schedule initiatives reflect the league-wide commitment by the WCC to adopt an innovative approach to advance men’s basketball on the national stage.

The WCC Tournament will be held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the 12th consecutive season on March 5-10.

BYU’s complete nonconference schedule is expected to be released soon.