As the Texas Longhorns made the program’s first trip to Gainesville in almost 30 years, the No. 5 Florida Gators chomped the Longhorns in a XX-XX victory that saw a seven-point halftime deficit reach as many as 24 points in the second half at the Exactech Arena.

If there’s any relief for the Longhorns after a brutal loss, it’s the end of the brutal start to SEC play that featured a road game against the No. 13, home games against the No. 1 and No. 2 teams, a road rivalry game, and the trip to Gainesville.

When Texas returns to Austin to play Missouri on Tuesday at the Moody Center, it will come against a program that merely received votes in the AP Top 25 poll last week.

Four players scored in double digits for the Horns, including 12 points from senior forward Ze’Rik Onyema and a team-high 16 points from freshman guard Tre Johnson, who was 1-of-5 shooting from three as Texas managed just four made threes on 16 attempts, finishing minus-12 in that category as Florida sunk eight from distance.

The biggest difference came in the paint, however — the Gators dominated around the basket, outscoring the Longhorns 44-20 in points in the paint with the help of 14 layups and five dunks.

Florida was also better in transition with a 12-4 edge in fast-break points.

The opening stretch of the game featured some ugly offensive play by both teams as the officiating crew allowed physical battles to take place in the paint — Texas was 2-of-8 shooting and Florida was 1-of-10 with five straight misses at the under-16 timeout as the Horns led 4-3. Both teams were having some trouble finishing defensive possessions with rebounds as the Gators corralled four offensive rebounds and the Longhorns turned two into a second-chance basket byOnyema.

Out of the timeout, both teams showed signs of finding some rhythm as Johnson and senior wing Tramon Mark hit threes for Texas and Florida made one of its own prior to a turnover. Johnson unquestionably found his rhythm in hitting consecutive jumpers to score nine of the first 14 points for the Longhorns.

By the time that Onyema made a layup on the final Texas possession before the second media break, the Horns had made six consecutive shots in addition to Onyema making two free throws to lead 18-13.

A scoring drought hit the Longhorns after the hot streak with the misses coming on contested shots around the rim or good looks from three as the Gators took a three-point lead and Texas head coach Rodney Terry had to use his use-it-or-lose-it timeout to slow the home team’s momentum following a layup.

But senior forward Jayson Kent had a careless turnover and another seal around the rim produced another layup by Florida as Texas went through a stretch that featured eight straight misses shots during a 15-0 run by the Gators that opened up a 10-point lead and threatened to bury the Horns.

An 8-2 response by Texas steadied the team and trips to the free-throw line by Mark and senior guard Julian Larry cut the deficit to five points. Florida took a seven-point lead into halftime after a layup, a poor, contested shot by Johnson that missed badly, and some luck for the Longhorns when a three-point attempt by the Gators at the halftime buzzer rimmed out.

Texas finished the half with only six three-point attempts, three offensive rebounds, and six turnovers as Pope, senior forward Kadin Shedrick, and senior forward Arthur Kaluma combined for two points on 0-of-7 shooting as Johnson paced the team with 11 points.

And while Onyema played well off the bench in scoring eight points, his best conference performance at Texas, but Larry, Kent, and sophomore wing Devon Pryor combined for two points and three turnovers as Pryor finished minus-10 in his three minutes on the court.

Kaluma finally scored on a three less than two minutes into the second half, but Florida kept producing quality looks against the Texas defense in extending the lead back to double digits as the Horns went into another scoring drought with turnovers a bigger problem than missed shots.

During that important stretch of the second half, Florida didn’t create more separation against Texas, but the Horns also didn’t cut into the deficit, so when the Gators hit a big three before the under-eight timeout, it pushed the margin back to 10 points because the Longhorns didn’t do better than a 5-0 run in the second half.

So when Texas missed six straight shots in a stretch of four and a half minutes without a made basket as Florida stretched the lead to 18 points on a made three in transition, prompting a timeout by Terry with 3:51 remaining and the game firmly out of reach.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Police said they are continuing to search for a Florida man who went missing Tuesday.

The Ocoee Police Department said the man is 46-year-old Juan Manuel Leon.

Officials reported Leon’s family said he had been acting strangely and had not been home since Monday.

Where is Juan Manuel Leon?

The backstory:

Police said Leon last was seen Jan. 14 by officers on White Road in Ocoee.

Leon’s family reported him missing Jan. 17 from Hammocks Drive, records show.

What we know:

Officials reported Leon last was seen wearing a gray hoodie, black sweatpants, black and white shoes, and carrying a black backpack.

Leon has brown eyes and black hair, which officers said may be in braids.

Police said Leon is about 5 feet and 7 inches and weighs about 140 pounds.

What you can do:

Anyone with information on Leon’s location is asked to contact Detective Justin Hutchinson at jhutchinson@ocoee.org or (407) 905-3160.

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Advocates and those directly impacted by potential changes to immigration laws in Florida are expressing their concerns.

Two days after calling a special session on immigration, hurricane recovery and more, Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined a series of policies he believes will be easier to implement once President-elect Trump takes office.

“In this legislative session, you’re going to see some major changes in the federal government’s posture when it comes to the border and immigration,” DeSantis said during a press conference at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday

One of the things DeSantis said he would push for is to require local law enforcement to participate in federal immigration enforcement, which would include Trump’s plans to start a mass deportation effort.

[ What are the expected immigration policies under a second Trump Administration?]

Seventeen-year-old Polet Oaxaca, the daughter of a Central Florida immigrant farmworker, expressed her concerns to News 6.

“I feel like it’s worrisome. You never know what will happen when you go out of the house, to maybe buy groceries,” she said. “She’s scared that something’s going to happen, that she’s going to have to go back to Mexico. All that hard work going down the drain. It’s all wasted.”

Locally, the Farmworker Association of Florida is advocating for immigrants. Ernesto Ruiz, the agroecology coordinator, noted that while anti-immigrant rhetoric has intensified, it might just be empty promises.

“There is concern because even though we have been through a Trump presidency, DeSantis administration, the language is escalated, right?” he said.

“When they’re talking about record deportations, it gets people worried. It gets us worried. I remind myself, and I try to remind my friends and colleagues and community members that we have to separate Trump the candidate from Trump, the statesman. Because he says a lot of things and he doesn’t follow through with a lot of things.”

Families like Oaxaca’s remain fearful, especially with DeSantis’ proposals, which include repealing a law that allows undocumented children to pay in-state tuition rates.

“Honestly, I think they’re trying to make things difficult for us. We haven’t done anything wrong here,” Oaxaca said. “The only reason why we’ve ever, why Hispanics have come over here or immigrants, in general, have come here is for a better life for them.

Governor DeSantis also suggested implementing citizen verification for foreign remittances, a move Ruiz believes could have negative repercussions.

“By limiting the amount of money that we can go and send to communities back in the global South that need it, you’re going to increase poverty,” Ruiz argued. “How does that solve anything other than punish the people here, punish the people back there, and then create a huge incentive for more immigration to come?”

The special session the governor called to discuss immigration will be on Jan. 27.

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