‘Jeopardy!’ had 2 RI contestants this week in Second Chance Tournament. Here’s how they did

Given a second chance on “Jeopardy!,” Providence’s Matt Harvey had what it took to win a game and advance in the Second Chance Tournament on Thursday night.

First to the buzzer and taking an early lead in the game, Harvey dominated in his return to the Alex Trebek Stage. Except for one brief moment when another opponent tied with him after correctly answering a Daily Double, he held his lead throughout the game. He cinched it by correctly answering the final question, finishing with $29,400.

With this win, he advances to play again in the tournament.

Who is Matt Harvey on ‘Jeopardy!’?

Harvey moved to Rhode Island more than 30 years ago to attend Brown University and never left. He works in administration at Integra Community Care Network, a division of the Care New England Health System, is married and has twin 15-year-olds.

He first competed on “Jeopardy!” in November 2022, coming in second to Cris Pannullo, who was on game 16 of what ended up being a 21-day streak.

“When I got the text message from ‘Jeopardy!’ asking me to come back, it almost didn’t quite feel real,” Harvey said in an interview ahead of the Jan. 4 game airing. “This Second Chance Tournament that they do is such a great idea, I think, for people exactly in my position.”

The second Rhode Islander on Jeopardy this week

The strangest thing about Harvey’s “Jeopardy!” appearances is that this is the second time he has been part of what he dubbed a Rhode Island cluster, with two Rhode Island contestants competing in the same week and a Rhode Island question.

The first time he played, North Smithfield resident Meghan Mello also played, and there was a question asking the contestants to identify “The Renaissance City” and “PVD” that no one got. (What is Providence?)

This time, Pawtucket resident Sharon Bishop played on Tuesday night, and there was another Rhode Island-themed question.

Do you know? Can you answer this Rhode Island themed question they asked on “Jeopardy!” tonight?

“What are the chances, given the size of our little state, that there are two of us?” Harvey said. “I guess I bring clusters around. I’m a Rhode Island ‘Jeopardy cluster’ creator.”