Sophomore guard Darius Morris is Michigan's leading scorer after eight games, averaging 14.4 points a game.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Before this season, Michigan basketball coach John Beilein said that on some of his better teams, he never knew where the points would come from each night.

This likely isn’t what he had in mind.

Instead, Beilein is more like he’s sitting on a bench waiting for a bus to come wondering exactly how his team became like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. From game to game, he has no idea who will lead Michigan in key categories.

Michigan is 6-2 after eight games and five different Michigan players have led the Wolverines in scoring. Three players have led in rebounding.

“You're always concerned is your team improving at the right rate, but we're going to be young all year long,” Beilein said. “It's not going to stop.

"We'll just get better at being young.”

Michigan, with its 11 freshmen and sophomores, plays host to Utah (6-2) on Friday (6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).

Last year, Michigan knew it could rely on Manny Harris (18.1 points a game) and DeShawn Sims (16.8) to handle the scoring load.

Sophomore guard Darius Morris leads Michigan in scoring this season at 14.4 points a game. Redshirt freshman forward Jordan Morgan (11.4 ppg) and freshman guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10.4 ppg) also average double-figure points a game, but their production has been spotty.

Hardaway Jr. went from six points in a loss to UTEP on Nov. 27 to 15 points against Clemson two nights later to three against Harvard on Dec. 4. Freshman forward Evan Smotrycz scored four points against UTEP and then 18 against Clemson and then none against Harvard

Junior guard Stu Douglass had six points against UTEP, two against Clemson and then exploded for 19 against Harvard.

“We’re looking at every day trying to look at the broad picture and look who is really having the good days two or three days in a row,” Beilein said. “And just seeing how it all fits together.

“But we’re trying to be more prepared for anything that will come at us, whether it is the Syracuse zone, the UTEP pressure - Clemson pressured us hard. We’ve got to be able to handle it.”

Most of Michigan’s inconsistencies have been on offense, though, because of the Wolverines’ youth.

Defense, which is usually the more difficult thing to pick up, has actually been fairly consistent for Michigan. Entering Monday, which is the last time the NCAA updated its national leaders, the Wolverines were seventh in scoring defense, allowing 54.9 points a game. They were 24th in field goal percentage defense (37.2) and 17th in three-point percentage defense (26.2).

“One thing we noticed consistently is our effort,” Morris said. “We need to be on our A game to have a chance to compete out there with any team in the country. And our defense, we can rely on our defense now.

“Even for the offensive part, we try to execute our game plan pretty well.”

Sometimes Michigan does. Other times it doesn’t. That will be the mystery of the rest of its season.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein