Stanford was hoping to play the Arizona team that lost back-to-back games to UCLA and USC in Los Angeles two weeks ago.

But last week, the No. 12 Wildcats looked more like the team that was picked in the preseason media poll to repeat as Pac-12 champion. Arizona crushed Washington by 32 and Washington State by 24.

The Cardinal have lost 11 straight games in the series with Arizona, a streak they would love to snap in Thursday night’s game at Maples Pavilion. They haven’t beaten the Wildcats since a 76-60 victory in 2009, Johnny Dawkins’ first season as the head coach.

This time, Stanford (10-6 overall) finds itself in a tie with Arizona (15-3) and Oregon for third place at 3-2, behind Washington (5-1) and USC (4-1).

“They’re an extremely talented team,” Cardinal forward Rosco Allen said of the Wildcats. “They’ve really buckled down defensively lately. They’re a tough team to match up against.”

He ticked off the things the Cardinal need to do in particular. “Rebounding, the transition game and taking their shooters out of their game,” he said. “They have a number of guys who are shooting a good percentage right now.”

Among those shooters are forward Ryan Anderson, a transfer from Boston College who leads the Wildcats in scoring (14.8); guard Gabe York (13.6), who is hitting 44 percent of his threes; center Kaleb Tarczewski (10.5) and forward Mark Tollefsen (8.8).

Tollefsen was a second-team All-WCC pick last season as USF’s leading scorer, then moved to Tucson as a graduate transfer. He has hit 39 percent of his threes for the Wildcats while filling a variety of roles.

When Tarczewski was out with ankle and foot injuries, Tollefsen subbed at power forward. Now, with highly regarded freshman Allonzo Trier out with a broken hand, Tollefesen’s playing a lot of small forward. That’s probably where the Danville native will play on his return to the Bay Area.

It hasn’t been easy to learn a completely new system in a few months.

“I think as time has gone on, I am getting more comfortable with my guys out there, being on the floor and in our system,” Tollefsen told the Arizona Daily Star. Head coach Sean Miller “has said he wants me to shoot more, and the guys have said it to me, too. It helped me gain confidence to release and shoot the ball, not think about it.”

Point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright has become the distributor lately for the Wildcats, assuming the role that T.J. McConnell held the past two seasons. Arizona is playing shorthanded. A top freshman, Ray Smith, is out for the season with a torn ACL, and former De La Salle-Concord guard Elliott Pitts has been sidelined for an unspecified personal issue.

Stanford will be without leading rebounder Reid Travis (stress reaction) for the ninth straight game. It doesn’t help that Arizona will be the sixth straight opponent either ranked or receiving votes in a national poll. According to CBS Sports bracketologist Jerry Palm, the Cardinal have the third-toughest schedule in the country, after Texas and Villanova.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald

Thursday’s game

Who: No. 12 Arizona (15-3, 3-2 Pac-12) vs. Stanford (10-6, 3-2)

When: 8 p.m.

Where: Maples Pavilion

TV/Radio: P12BA/1050