Mike Poole

KING OF QUEENS: St. John’s and Moe Harkless (left) are on the road tonight against Rutgers and Harkless’ Queens buddy Mike Poole (inset). (
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At least St. John’s forward Moe Harkless hasn’t lost his sense of humor.

The freshman began yesterday’s media session saying on Monday he told his close friend, Rutgers sophomore shooting guard Mike Poole, that the two Queens products could not talk or text until after tonight’s showdown in the Rutgers Athletic Center between the Big East schools.

Asked when the two had last spoken, Harkless said, “This morning.’’

Hey, friendship counts. But Poole told The Post he didn’t expect to shake hands with Harkless or even acknowledge him before the opening tipoff.

The Johnnies (13-17, 6-11 Big East), have a chance to hold off the Scarlet Knights (13-17, 5-12) in the final regular season game for both. The Red Storm’s chances depend largely on how well Harkless can rebound from a sore right ankle that he rolled in Wednesday night’s loss at Pitt.

“[I feel it most with] lateral quickness, being able to move side-to-side,’’ Harkless said. “I couldn’t really move from spot to spot on defense.’’

“It was my decision [to come out of Wednesday’s game]. I said ‘Coach take me out of the game’ because I couldn’t really get to my assignment on defense, and defense is where we needed to step it up.’’

St. John’s assistant coach Mike Dunlap said it was his decision to sit Harkless — a sure sign coach and player have each other’s back.

Poole said he was watching the game until he saw his friend come up hobbling.

“When I saw him walk off the court under his own power I knew he would be OK,’’ said Poole. “We roll our ankles all the time. It’s when a guy needs help you know it’s bad. I texted him after the game.’’

Another violation of the no fraternization policy.

Dunlap said Harkless, a leading candidate for the Big East Freshman of the Year Award, will be at a “7 or 8” on the 1-to-10 scale. It will have to be enough for the team’s leading rebounder.

“We feel like we need Moe in every game — no matter what,’’ said teammate D’Angelo Harrison, who also is the running for postseason honors. “He’s really [the] key in everything we do. He rebounds. He scores. He blocks shots. We definitely need him every game. When he’s struggling or hurt, it’s tough on the team.’’