updated 9:16 a.m. ET Feb. 15, 2006

TULSA, Okla. - Eddie Sutton may have coached his last game, a 35-year career possibly ending six victories short of 800 because of a traffic accident in which he was injured and cited for driving under the influence.

Oklahoma State announced Monday that the 69-year-old Sutton would take a medical leave and that Sean Sutton, his son and designated heir apparent, will finish this season as coach. The school said no decision had been made on who will coach next season.

Eddie Sutton said in a statement released by the university that he nearly took medical leave after a Feb. 4 trip to Kansas State because of chronic back pain that was “making it very difficult to coach.”

“After Friday’s events, I know it is best to go on medical leave the remainder of the season to address my future health,” he said. “It is very difficult to step away from the team. But I know they are in great hands.”

In their first game since the elder Sutton stepped aside, the Cowboys lost 64-49 to No. 22 Kansas on Monday night.

Fans held up signs reading “We Miss Eddie” and “Get Well Eddie,” and a brief “Eddie! Eddie!” chant broke out in one section of seats in the final minutes.

The Cowboys played the Jayhawks close for about 30 minutes, before Kansas pulled away.

“I think it helped us a lot because we were stressing, ’Do this for coach Sutton,”’ Oklahoma State freshman Terrel Harris said. “We just felt like we had to do it for him. We thought this win would really make him feel good, make him feel better.”

Forward Torre Johnson said, “It’s bringing us together instead of pulling us apart, him not being here.”

Sutton spent the night in the hospital with a head injury following Friday’s accident in Stillwater.

Witnesses described Sutton’s sports utility vehicle as driving dangerously and erratically, forcing cars to swerve out of the way before he hit another SUV from behind at about 60 mph, according to police reports released Monday.

The driver of the other SUV received minor injuries and was released at the scene.

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One witness at the accident scene told police that Sutton seemed confused, responded angrily to questions and had a “slight fruity odor” on his breath.

The same witness reported seeing a bottle of prescription hydrocodone, a narcotic painkiller, on the seat of Sutton’s SUV.

Stillwater police cited Sutton after the accident but did not jail him on a complaint of driving under the influence because of a lack of physical evidence, the city’s police chief said Monday.

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Witnesses told police that shortly before the accident, Sutton was unsteady on his feet and struck his head after falling in the parking lot of Gallagher-Iba Arena before entering his vehicle. Sutton refused an ambulance at that scene and insisted on driving, police reports show.

The results of blood tests — which could take six to eight weeks to receive — will show whether the coach was driving under the influence, Stillwater Chief Norman McNickle said. Sutton was not given a field sobriety test at the time because he needed medical treatment, he said.

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