UNLV and UNM have long history together.(Sports)

Byline: Edgar Thompson TRIBUNE REPORTER

They were Wild West shootouts staged in dusty desert towns many years ago.

They pitted renegade basketball programs -- the universities of New Mexico and Nevada-Las Vegas.

The coaches -- Norm Ellenberger and Jerry Tarkanian -- later were to be stamped NCAA outlaws.

The athletes -- Michael Cooper, Marvin Johnson, Phil Abney, Reggie Theus, Eddie Owens, Jackie Robinson -- could have sported six-shooters. None ever saw a shot he did not like, playing for teams that routinely scored 100 points.

The run-and-gun brand of basketball played by the Lobos and Runnin' Rebels in the late 1970s is now only legend.

But as UNM and UNLV prepare to square …