FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2012, file photo, former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian watches his granddaughter, Northwestern center Dannielle Diamant, during Northwestern's NCAA college basketball game against California in Evanston, Ill. Hall of Fame coach Jerry Tarkanian, who built a basketball dynasty at UNLV but was defined more by his decades-long battle with the NCAA, died Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, in Las Vegas after several years of health issues. He was 84. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

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BITING TO THE END

LAS VEGAS — He couldn’t stop fighting the NCAA any more than he could give up chewing towels courtside. Jerry Tarkanian built a basketball dynasty in the desert, but it was his decades-long battle with the NCAA that defined him far more than the wins and losses.

• By ncs-import
• February 11, 2015